DNA of an elk
Student studies Michigan elk genetics in search of connections
Michael Mayday
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Features
It's a little-known fact that Michigan hosts an elk population. What's even less common knowledge is that Michigan's natural elk population went extinct around the late 19th century. However, a small herd was transplanted from Yellowstone National Park to northern Michigan in the early 20th century.
Junior James Howard, a biology major, knows this and has begun to study Michigan elk for his senior thesis
Howard must conduct research and present a thesis next year to fulfill his major requirements. He chose to study Michigan elk and the genetic differences between the old herd and the reintroduced herd.
Howard said he aims to compare DNA, a gene holding the blueprints of an organism, from the current transplanted herd to a pair of elk antlers dating back to the time of the original Michigan herd.
Lab technician Beth Reiter said she drove to Atlanta, Mich., to get tissue from a controlled elk hunt.
To extract the DNA needed from the tissues, Howard, with other biology majors, uses chemicals to break a tissue sample down into the bare blueprints of life - the DNA.
They capture those blueprints inside a glass tube, and at the very tip of the tube is a clear liquid containing only DNA.
"All that's in there is just DNA and a solution. There's nothing else in there," Howard said.
But a tube of DNA isn't enough. To make more, Howard uses a polymerase chain reaction, which clones the available DNA by magnitudes.
"We're using samples like a microliter, which is incredibly small. So we'll replicate that and get more and more DNA," Howard said.
After Howard gets the DNA needed, he can finally get to work.
"When we run a genetic analysis on that we'll be able to compare it to the current population," Howard said, "We'll be able to see how much interrelatedness there'll be between the herd population back then compared to what it is now, and how much has changed over time."
Associate Professor of Biology Dan York, Howard's thesis adviser, said he looks forward to getting the results.
Junior James Howard, a biology major, knows this and has begun to study Michigan elk for his senior thesis
Howard must conduct research and present a thesis next year to fulfill his major requirements. He chose to study Michigan elk and the genetic differences between the old herd and the reintroduced herd.
Howard said he aims to compare DNA, a gene holding the blueprints of an organism, from the current transplanted herd to a pair of elk antlers dating back to the time of the original Michigan herd.
Lab technician Beth Reiter said she drove to Atlanta, Mich., to get tissue from a controlled elk hunt.
To extract the DNA needed from the tissues, Howard, with other biology majors, uses chemicals to break a tissue sample down into the bare blueprints of life - the DNA.
They capture those blueprints inside a glass tube, and at the very tip of the tube is a clear liquid containing only DNA.
"All that's in there is just DNA and a solution. There's nothing else in there," Howard said.
But a tube of DNA isn't enough. To make more, Howard uses a polymerase chain reaction, which clones the available DNA by magnitudes.
"We're using samples like a microliter, which is incredibly small. So we'll replicate that and get more and more DNA," Howard said.
After Howard gets the DNA needed, he can finally get to work.
"When we run a genetic analysis on that we'll be able to compare it to the current population," Howard said, "We'll be able to see how much interrelatedness there'll be between the herd population back then compared to what it is now, and how much has changed over time."
Associate Professor of Biology Dan York, Howard's thesis adviser, said he looks forward to getting the results.
Be the first to comment on this story