Today is Paulo Belato’s first day in the Hanlon Lab!  Paulo is a rising senior and a McNair Summer Scholar who will be examining gene expression changes in the testes of flies that carry B chromosomes.  Lots of genetics and genomics are in Paulo’s future, and we welcome him to the lab!

All systems are go and the Hanlon Lab is ready to fly!  Here Kaylah is checking out some of the flies she’ll be using in some crosses she’ll set up soon to examine the genetic basis of meiotic drive of the B chromosomes.  So exciting!

Congratulations to Kaylah, who has officially joined the Hanlon Lab!  Currently her focus is on understanding what domains of Matrimony – an essential regulator of female meiosis – are necessary and sufficient for its suppression of meiotic drive of the B chromosomes.  Welcome, Kaylah!

Our new DeltaVision Ultra is already producing some gorgeous images!  Graduate student Kaylah Samuelson validated our fluorescent in situ hybridization protocol and established the imaging parameters on the DeltaVision Ultra to produce this gorgeous karyotype from an XX^Y female with B chromosomes.  Magenta = DNA (DAPI stain), yellow = DNA FISH probe that recognizes the AAGAT repeat.

Maya and Nathan will be joining the Hanlon Lab for the Spring 2021 semester.  We hope you enjoy your introduction to research and get to do some cool biology!

Two massive crates are now in the lab, just waiting to be opened and put to work imaging Drosophila B chromosomes.  So exciting!