Using transgenic mice to explore glial mechanisms of addiction

This project uses male and female conditional transgenic lines of mice to study glial cells implicated in addiction. Our transgene constructs are designed to add a fluorescent tag to differentiating oligodendrocytes and track the myelinating glial cells and formation of new myelin sheaths in vivo. This project focuses on breeding strategies and management of these lines of mice, as well as genotyping and related molecular techniques.

Name of research group, project, or lab
The Richardson Laboratory
Why participate in this opportunity?

Opportunity to acquire and use skills for generation of transgenic mouse lines and maintain a live colony in a laboratory setting.

Logistics Information:
Subject Category
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Neuroscience
Student ranks applicable
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Student qualifications
  • General laboratory safety and handling of equipment
  • Wet-lab experience handling and preparing solutions 
  • Pipetting small volumes (microliters)
  • Academic knowledge in genetics, molecular biology, or biochemistry
Time commitment
8-10 h/wk
Position Types and Compensation
Research - Ind. Study Credit
Number of openings
2
Techniques learned
  • Mouse colony management
    • Data entry and organization spreadsheet 
    • Setting up breeding pairs
    • Checking and identifying pregnancies
    • Recording births
    • Collecting samples for genotyping 
    • Identifying male vs female pups
    • Weaning and separating pups into same-sex groups
  • Genotyping
    • Genomic DNA extraction from sample
    • Setting up and running PCR reaction in thermocycler
    • Making agarose gel
    • Loading the gel to run the PCR products (electrophoresis)
    • Interpretation of results
Project start
Fall 2024
Contact Information:
Mentors
afloresbonil@umass.edu
Graduate Student
heatherr@umass.edu
Principal Investigator
Name of project director or principal investigator
Heather N. Richardson
Email address of project director or principal investigator
hrichardson@cns.umass.edu
2 sp. | 51 appl.
Hours
8-10 h/wk
Project categories
Molecular Biology (+2)
GeneticsMolecular BiologyNeuroscience