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Molecular Physiology And Developmental Biology

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Dr. Elizabeth Ables is an assistant professor at East Carolina University, in Greenville, North Carolina. She has worked there since 2013. Dr. Ables received her BS degree from St. Andrews University and her Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology and Developmental Biology from Vanderbilt University. She studied how the pancreas precursor cells are led by a cascade of transcription factors during development to become insulin-producing beta cells, while using transgenic mice and immunofluorescence microscopy to examine the topic. Her current studies resulted in the discovery that the steroid hormone ecdysone, which directly controls Drosophila germline stem cell activity. These studies expanded her ability to design experiments significant for …show more content…

We learned tissue homeostasis is a balance between cell division, specialization, and turnover time. Normal cells have a plethora of specialized cells and with proliferation there tends to be a loss of specialized function. Her interest in stem cells came with some problems. First, all cells come from other cells. Secondly, specialized cells tend to divide very infrequently. Therefore, she began studying the germline cells of fruit flies because the cell cycle is very similar to humans. She wanted to study stem signals and their complex connections to determine the cell fate. Such as in the Drosophila uterine cells, there is a cluster of cells in which only one will become the final egg cell, the others are nurse cells that monitor the egg. The fate of these cells is predetermined by genes and were illustrated through immunofluorescence microscopy. During her presentation she held the attention of entire audience with the use of direct eye contact, and did not need to look at note cards or reference the slides unless directing the audience through a figure. She also spoke with respectable volume and articulation to keep the audience interested and emphasize key points. I like that she moved around a bit while she spoke. She also made the class very informal, which helped to make it more comfortable to ask questions. She seemed very comfortable with her research and could answer all questions presented to her by the audience. She was very knowledgeable and

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