By Leigh Johns (Department of Life Sciences)
Supervisor: Prof. Jon Whitehead
During the summer of 2022, funded by the University of Lincoln Undergraduate Opportunities Research Scheme (UROS), an in-silico research project was undertaken, with a supervisor from the School of Life Sciences. The project analysed a transcriptomic (RNAseq) dataset from a previous wet-lab study, which catalogued how individual genes responded and altered their expression levels. The focus was the extent to which human immature fat cells (preadipocytes) were differentiated (adipogenesis) into mature fat cells (adipocytes) in the presence of vitamin C. Analysis involved in depth visualisation of individual gene expression levels, in combination with current literature. The project focused upon key gene subsets relevant to adipogenesis and vitamin C uptake into the cells. The Covid-19 restrictions provided a setting conducive to data analysis research, as opposed to further wet lab studies, however this was beneficial providing time to pause and reflect on the data and to shape future research through a greater understanding of key mechanisms and responses.
*To view the research poster for this project, please click on the thumbnail below:
