Spring 2024 CURE Class

(Spring 2024)

Principal Investigator

Aida Miró-Herrans, Ph.D.

Institution

University of Florida

Project

Genome-wide analysis of the human head louse

Research Focus

I worked under Dr.Miro-Herrans to create phylogenetic trees from Pediculus humanus capitis mitochondrial DNA. Pediculus humanus capitis, commonly known as human head louse, is an ancient, obligate parasite of humans. This project aims to discover aspects of human history harbored in the parasite's DNA.

Responsibilities

I utilized BASH software to create and use a loop program to align sample louse DNA sequeses. I also organized neighbor-joining phylogenetic trees to analyze relationships between provided sample DNA and sequences imported from a global database.