{"id":6,"date":"2013-08-09T20:01:56","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T20:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/?page_id=6"},"modified":"2021-12-17T17:14:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T17:14:20","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_53\" style=\"width: 202px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/files\/2013\/08\/tentacle12.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-53\" class=\"wp-image-53  \" src=\"http:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/files\/2013\/08\/tentacle12-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"tentacle12\" width=\"192\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/files\/2013\/08\/tentacle12-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/files\/2013\/08\/tentacle12.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-53\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Expression of a PDGF\/VEGF gene in hydra tentacles<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Hydra<\/em> species are morphologically simple invertebrates with relatively few identifiable cell types. My research group is currently using <em>Hydra<\/em> to study the biology of aging. Previous\u00a0studies suggest that members of the species <em>Hydra vulgaris <\/em>can survive indefinitely without declines in health, while members of the species <em>Hydra oligactis<\/em> experience increasing physical deterioration and eventually death following reproduction. Interestingly, <em>H. oligactis<\/em> are also more sensitive than <em>H. vulgaris<\/em> to heat stress and other\u00a0environmental stressors.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 157px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/files\/2013\/08\/Steph-in-lab-1web-230x300.jpg\" alt=\"Steph in lab 1web\" width=\"147\" height=\"192\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephanie Gingrich (class of 2012) preparing DNA for microinjection into hydra embryos<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We are working to determine whether differences in the heat\u00a0shock response can explain the extreme difference in lifespan between the species. Using approaches including analysis of gene expression, production of transgenic\u00a0<em>Hydra<\/em>, and elimination of specific cell types, we are investigating the roles of several genes which could potentially be involved in maintaining\u00a0<em>Hydra<\/em>\u00a0stem cell populations and extending lifespan. In collaboration with the lab of Daniel Martinez at Pomona College, we are also using next-generation DNA sequencing techniques to identify genes involved in protecting cells from stress-induced damage. Our research is currently funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Templeton Foundation. In the past, it has been funded by the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hydra species are morphologically simple invertebrates with relatively few identifiable cell types. My research group is currently using Hydra to study the biology of aging. Previous\u00a0studies suggest that members of the species Hydra vulgaris can survive indefinitely without declines in health, while members of the species Hydra oligactis experience increasing physical deterioration and eventually death &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/research\/\"><span class=\"custom-more\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106,"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facultysites.etown.edu\/bridged\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}