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Madeline Wright ’27, from Penngrove, California, is spending this summer working in the laboratory of Katie Berry, associate professor of biochemistry, where she is studying interactions between small RNA (sRNA) and different proteins. She has received Lynk funding to be able to do this work.

sRNAs help to facilitate reactions within a cell by binding to bacteria’s DNA. Often this process requires a chaperone protein that can help facilitate the binding.

Wright’s group in the lab is focused on chaperone binding proteins and looking into a potential new genre of binding proteins. Previously, Berry created the bacterial three hybrid assay which can detect interactions between small RNAs and proteins.

Wright is focusing on Khp proteins, specifically trying to recreate a reaction that happened in the 314 lab, which is a lab class in the chemistry department that often works with the Berry lab. The 314 lab found that the E.faecalis KhpB interacted with one of the sRNAs on a two-fold level, which is a high interaction. Therefore, Wright wants to see if she can recreate that reaction and to see if it will bind to anything else. She has had some promising results so far and is eager to see if they can be replicated consistently.

Wright, a biochemistry major, was thrilled to be accepted to work at the Berry lab. She has always been interested in working with DNA, RNA and bacterial research. Even before getting a position in the lab, Wright was fascinated by their work and requested to attend lab meetings so she could hear about the research.

“I went to every single meeting that semester,” Wright said. “I sat in the back and just took a lot of notes on all of the research.”

Once applications opened up for lab positions at the end of her sophomore year she applied immediately. Since then she has enjoyed learning more about all the different lab techniques and getting to dive head-first into higher-level research.

“I’ve done a lot of laboratory work and I am highly involved in the biochem department,” Wright shared. “Absolutely nothing has been on the level that this experience has been…this is true research experience.”

During the past two months of working in the lab, Wright has fallen in love with the research process. “Doing this has made me realize I want to do research,” she said. “Without this experience I wouldn’t have known what research actually entails and how much I adore it.”

Not only has Wright enjoyed the work involved with research, but she also really appreciates the community she has found in the lab.

“Some of the top favorite moments have been the moments I’ve shared with the community in the lab,” Wright said. “I’ve made so many new friends and we dance every weekend, we hang out, we have lunch and go on adventures. There have just been so many wonderful moments with my community.”

Wright presented her research at the recent summer science symposium and looks forward to continuing to work at the lab.