Kenyon College

HHMI Grants to Kenyon

Geetha Kannan '07 and Jessie Wilks '09, Kenyon Honors researchers
conducting microarray studies in collaboration with the
U. Wisconsin-Madison Gene Expression Center


Geetha Kannan '07 and Jessie Wilks '09 review their E. coli time course experiment in which mRNA was obtained and cDNA made for Affymetrix array hybridization.

Kannan's research poster. 2004 project

Following a shift from pH 7.5 to pH 5.5, E. coli genes are induced with rapid recovery.

E. coli genes induced more gradually after shift to pH 5.5, without rapid recovery.


Kannan describes her microarray project, and her experience visiting
the University of Wisconsin at Madison:

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to work on this microarray project with my research partner Jessica Wilks, and to visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM). The research facilities at Kenyon are well equipped for a small liberal arts college, but for a large project like a microarray, it was necessary to collaborate with the laboratory of Sandra Splinter BonDurant of the Gene Expression Center in the UWM.

The majority of the summer was spent at Kenyon College: growing E. coli, taking samples, extracting RNA, and determining the quantity and quality of the RNA. As with all science projects, we had our fair share of trouble shooting during the summer. Our samples were then shipped to the laboratory of Sandra, where the quality of the RNA was again tested. The results were sent back to us at Kenyon College to examine. At long last, after 2 months of long work, Jessie and I were off to Madison to finish the project.

Jessie and I arrived in Madison on Saturday and were greeted at the airport by Kenyon alum Lisa Maurer (’04), who was the first person to do a microarray project in Dr. Slonczewski’s laboratory and Kenyon College as well. She is now in the MD-PhD program at UWM. We were also met by Amy Thurber (’07), who was conducting research at UWM during the summer. Lisa showed Jessie and me around Madison a bit, took us to dinner on State Street, and told us about her experience working on her microarray project in Madison two summers ago. Sunday Jessie and I walked around the streets of Madison to get aquainted with our surroundings and visited the Art Museum.

On Monday, we started work at 8:00 am. Sandra introduced us to her technician Wayne and to others in the nearby laboratories as the passed. The lab differed greatly from those at Kenyon. It was basically a giant box in the middle separated into three areas, one for each laboratory, all encased by desks on the outside where graduate students and post docs have their desks and the principle investigators have their offices. All the equipment was open to anyone in each of the three laboratories. Sandra showed us the machine she used to check our RNA quality and went over the data she sent us previously. Then she showed us step by step how to convert the RNA into cDNA and then label it for the microarray hybridization. With each step she thoroughly explained the reasoning behind what she was doing and answered any questions we had, so that we would be able to do it on our own. That day she also gave us some background on the different types of microarrays.

Tuesday, Jessie and I were on our own in the laboratory with Sandra popping in and out to see if we had any questions. It was a beneficial experience, being able to first see what needs to be done and then having the chance to do it ourselves. Wayne taught us about how to prepare the microarray chips and what to do post-hybridization, as well as showed us the spotted array machine. Later in the week we met with Dr. Audrey Gauche, who works in a different part of the “box,” about data analysis of microarrays. We also had the opportunity to visit other laboratories in the building, meet interesting people, and learn about the outreach programs the university has with kids in the area, introducing them to science.

Outside the laboratory, we had the chance to try different ethnic cuisines every night, very different than at Kenyon, and meander down State Street, which seemed to be the hub of the social scene at UWM. One evening was spent at Sandra’s house with her family, Wayne, and Kenyon alums Lisa Maurer and Emmie Dengler. All in all, the experience in Madison was wonderful. Not only did I learn new laboratory techniques, some of which can be used at Kenyon, but I met a lot of interesting people and learned quite a bit about the city of Madison itself. Just being there made me think it would be a wonderful place to attend graduate or medical school after Kenyon.