Team:TPHS San Diego/Human Practices
Breakdown of Trimethylamine via Trimethylamine Dehydrogenase to Minimize Heart Disease Caused by Red Meat Consumption
Zarrinpar Interview
What we did?
We talked to UCSD professor, Dr. Amir Zarrinpar at his UCSD lab on July 2nd, 2019. Dr. Zarrinpar was kind enough to schedule a meeting with us so we could discuss ways we could apply or project into a marketable product. We gave a presentation detailing the background of our project, our lab protocols, and ways we were thinking of applying the project in the foreseeable future.
Our hope was to gain insight into our project procedures and learn how to further apply our lab research after our initial proof of concept. Professor Zarrinpar was the perfect person to discuss our lab protocols with because he specializes in gastroenterology. His expertise in applying E. Coli-based probiotics in the human body is unrivaled, and therefore allowed him to give us insightful lab improvements, and integrate human practices into our lab procedures.
How did it go?
Dr. Zarrinpar gave us great feedback on our presentation. Not only did he watch, but he also brought many of his lab team members to watch us and enhance the given feedback. Throughout the presentation, they asked insightful questions which gave us a deeper understanding of our own project, and allowed us to explore bacterial probiotics in ways we had never imagined. The first suggestion Dr. Zarrinpar made was to utilize E. Coli Nissle, a strain directly taken from the human gut microbiome. Expressing our target sequence using this strain would allow us to create a human compatible probiotic, and remove the necessity for outside gut microbiome colonization. Dr. Zarrinpar also gave us advice on how to gauge public opinion on our project and incorporate outreach in one collaboration. He and his team suggested we draft a survey pertaining to our project and GMO’s in general to better understand how the public would potentially respond to our future probiotic. Overall, the interview was a major success, and allowed us to explore further appplications of our projects, some we had not even considered.
Cardiologist Interview
What we did?
We talked to cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Michael Koumjian on August 6th, 2019. We asked questions regarding the details and specifics of his profession, and our questions gradually led into the topic of heart disease and our project for this year. Dr. Koumjian was able to offer his professional insight into heart disease, since he deals directly with the consequences of too much cholesterol.
In contacting Mr. Koumjian, our goal was to gain a different perspective into our project. Human Practices wants the feedback on our project to be as well-rounded and inclusive as possible. Not only did the interview touch base on the adverse effects that cholesterol can have on the body, but the declining rate of cardiac surgeons was also discussed, and how our project could eliminate the need for such surgeons in the future. The impact of our project and probiotic on healthcare had not previously been considered, so it was powerful to hear that. Nonetheless, Dr. Koumjian testified to the correlation between high cholesterol and heart disease, and how often that can complicate surgeries. He has also noticed a trend with the demographic most afflicted with heart disease being elderly people.
How did it go?
Overall, the interview went very well. We were able to not only gain insight for our project, but also learned more about the field of cardiology. Mr. Koumjian was very thorough with answering all of our questions and was excited for the future of our project. A positive, professional relationship was also established with Dr. Koumjian. Although he could not directly offer suggestions for our project, he did express great interest in what we were doing and how the problem of heart disease in America needs to be addressed.
Jain Interview
What we did?
We talked to UCSD professor, Dr. Mohit Jain at his UCSD lab on October 4th, 2019. Dr. Jain was kind enough to schedule a meeting with us so we could discuss errors in our lab procedure and future detection methods. We interviewed him, and gained insight about what we could have altered in our lab protocols.
Our hope was to understand errors in our project procedures and learn how to further apply our lab research after our initial proof of concept. Professor Jain was the perfect person to discuss our protocols and probiotic with because he specializes in metabolites and mass spectrometry. His expertise in detecting the presence of ionizing compounds and using probiotics allowed him to provide deep insight into our methods.
How did it go?
Dr. Jain provided critical knowledge that we had previously lacked. As we discussed our project with him, he helped us narrow down sources of error and eventually focused on the endo agar assay. We had previously understood that this assay was causing issues, however he specifically pinpointed the lack of controlled variables in our shared laboratory setting. After we identified the problem, we worked on solutions. Dr. Jain’s expertise in mass spectrometry turned out to be the key element which could be utilized in future research. Specifically looking at the breakdown process of TMA, Dr. Jain focused on the byproduct of TMA, DMA. He said that DMA could be easily detected using mass spectrometry, and would therefore lend itself to accurate measurements of TMA breakdown. Using this knowledge, we will be able to conduct further research into an effective probiotic and control more elements of our lab protocol.
