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S&T
theJohnsonian
February 22, 2017
Award-winning genetic research at WU
Sydney Amodio
[email protected]
Winthrop senior Camerun Washington realized his passion for genetics
when he was a freshman in high school and his class was asked to present
a family tree of common genetic traits.
“I chose attached vs. detached earlobes, and I remember being so
excited to see how this and different traits passed through generations,”
Washington said.
Washington is currently a biology and modern languages double
major and a McNair scholar. His passion for genetics has grown while at
Winthrop.
“Knowing that almost all cellular functioning is regulated and controlled
by our genetic code, which is housed in every cell in our body, is beyond
fascinating,” Washington said. “I think it's super cool that genetics and
molecular biology have such beautiful complexities about them.”
While at Winthrop, Washington completed research on the role of
heterochromatin in meiotic recombination and chromosome disjunction.
“Heterochromatin is extremely tightly packed DNA. If you imagine DNA
as a long, thin string, heterochromatin would be that string wound around
a stream of marble super, super tightly,” Washington said. “Meiotic
recombination is the same as crossing over. This is when mom's and dad's
chromosomes come together and swap genetic information between the
two. Disjunction is simply the segregation of chromosomes from one pole
of the cell to another, so nondisjunction is when this happens incorrectly.”
His research is significant because aneuploidy, the incorrect number
of chromosomes in cells, is the leading genetic cause of developmental
disability. For example, Klinefelter syndrome arises from an extra
X chromosome and causes infertility, shortened stature, hormone
imbalances and increased breast tissue. Down syndrome arises from an
extra copy of chromosome 21.
Washington faced the challenge of adopting an optimal protocol to
identify mutants, which took him over three semesters to perfect. He
altered the composition of the chromosomes in the Drosophila fruit fly and
found that decreased levels of heterochromatin increased the frequency of
improper chromosome separation.
“Since recombination, or crossing over, is required for chromosomes
to segregate, a resulting weakened chromosome may be altering where
these crossovers occur, increasing the probability for errors to occur,”
Washington said.
Washington received the assistance of Kathryn Kohl, who earned her
Ph.D. in genetics and molecular biology, and Cheryl Fortner-Wood,
Director of Winthrop McNair Scholars Program.
“Dr. Kohl has been a pivotal research advisor since I began working
with her my sophomore year. She has strengthened my scientific critical
thinking skills, scientific writing, and knowledge of genetic principles,”
Washington said. “Dr. Fortner-Wood has been more than a McNair
Director, she has been an irreplaceable advocate and source of comfort
throughout the graduate admissions process.”
Washington was Kohl’s first research student so he also helped her set
up her research lab.
“We spent the first few months stepping over boxes and organizing the
lab while also running his experiments,” Kohl said.
Kohl instructed Washington on genetic terminology and techniques.
When Washington joined her lab, he had not taken any college-level
genetics courses, but he learned very quickly. According to Kohl, he now
works independently and the two spend their research meetings talking
Photo courtesy of Camerun Washington
Senior Camerun Washington does individual research at Winthrop.
about ideas.
“I have truly enjoyed working with Camerun. His enthusiasm is
contagious, he has outstanding interpersonal skills, and he always
represented my lab and Winthrop well,” Kohl said.
Washington presented his research at multiple forums. He won two firstplace oral presentation awards and one first place poster award. One of
his favorite opportunities was presenting at the National McNair Research
Conference.
“I met talented students from all over the country eager to learn and
change the world,” Washington said.
After becoming a genetic counselor, Washington wants to get involved
with the international community of genetic counselors to make use of
his foreign language skills and become an expert in his field. He wants to
join committees that work to promote genetic testing coverage by health
insurance providers.
According to Kohl, “Camerun is a fantastic student and researcher.
He is bright, hardworking, dependable and passionate. It is obvious that
genetics is the correct field for his future studies.”
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Research opportunity at Winthrop
Emma Harris
Staff Writer
In the past, many Winthrop students have participated in scientific
research, concentrating within the quantitative realm. This means that
students start their experiments by developing a hypothesis and performing
controlled tests.
These tests produce an accurate amount of data which will accept or reject
the previously predicted hypothesis. However, there is another realm of
research that our students are now delving into. This method of observation
and conclusion-seeking is dubbed qualitative research.
This type of research is based on a foundation containing no direct
hypothesis, meaning that the students engage in testing and let the data
they observed create a hypothesis for them. They let the findings speak for
themselves.
Several students are participating within qualitative research for the
duration of a single semester. Their findings have the potential to be
presented at research conferences.
The class that offers this amazing opportunity is a sociology course called
Qualitative Methods. There are multiple groups made of four to five people
using the methods of qualitative research to answer individually different
scientific inquiries.
One of those groups is made up of Jeannie Haubert (the head facilitator
and professor for the course), Savannah Templeton, Bryan Mobley,
Jacqueline Bithorn, Rod Perkins and Delaney Roberts.
Their research focus in on co-led facilitated teaching within the classroom
setting with an emphasis on race and ethnic relations. To collect their data,
they will utilize outlets such as interviews, student journals and previous
scientific literature with similar research goals.
Jacqueline Bithorn said, “Ultimately, our hope when doing qualitative
research is to find some trends and find gaps in research that has already
been done. The research that we are doing now will, in theory, fill those gaps
in. We are charged with the task of doing research of our specific field then
implementing that into our report to see where and if our resulting trends
can help solidify past studies.”
“This course is a lot different from any of my other classes because our
performance and participation in research coincides with our learning,”
Savannah Templeton said. “We are literally learning the proper steps of
performing qualitative research and then required to demonstrate our
knowledge through the process of real-world research the next day. This is
the most interesting and challenging part.”
Bryan Mobley said, “I’m enjoying the process of working with a research
team. We are coming up with ideas and different ways of thinking that is
unlike any other research outlet, and we are doing it as a team. So I am
looking forward to the journey of working with other scholars and people
who are passionate about their work.”
This course and these groups are one of the first steps in merging
qualitative research into the traditional methods associated with
quantitative research. The students and professionals involved are changing
Winthrop history as we speak.
Emma Harris / The Johnsonian
From left to right: Jackie, Bryan, Savannah, Ron, Delaney and Haubert.
Sydney Amodio | Science & Technology Editor
[email protected]