September 12, 2001: Snapshot

Lab Labors
By Ricardo Barros

On a warm and sunny August 14, Diane Nuttall '02 was finishing up her summer's work in President Tilghman's lab in Lewis Thomas. One of two students whose theses Tilghman will advise this year, Nuttall is researching a gene called Lunatic Fringe, which is involved in somitogenesis, the formation of the regular blocks of tissue that eventually become
muscles and bones. Nuttall spent most of her summer building a DNA construct that she will put into mouse embryonic stem cells, creating a mouse with an altered Lunatic Fringe, to see how the genetic change affects somitogenesis. After that it was home to Plainville, Connecticut, for some relaxation with her family before returning to campus in September.