Bringing DNA to Light

Biology major Terry-Ann Dawes has spent three years working in the chemistry lab with Dimitrios Giarikos, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Math, Science, and Technology at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. Together they are developing a chemical compound that attaches to traces of DNA and makes them visible in certain kinds of light.

According to popular TV shows, we already have good means for finding DNA. Why would we look for another one?

“Fluorescent light scatters too much,” Dawes said. “We’re looking for something that reveals the presence of DNA and holds that image for a long time. It would save time and money by being more efficient and accurate for detection.”

Lifting a vial of a pale solution, honors student Dawes said she was confident that the research produced a compound that looks promising. “We use spectroscopy to measure the amount of emitted light, and fortunately, this compound discharges different light depending on the concentration of DNA present.”

Dawes is focuing on this research in her Honors thesis. Giarikos said, “She may be an undergraduate student, but this is graduate-level research.”

Two years ago, Dawes started doing research at NSU’s Health Professions Division, testing two cancer drugs. “I grew excited about finding alternatives to chemotherapy,” she said. “I’d rather spend more time with the patients, but I want to do research too. I like the full process of working a problem through in the lab, learning how to purify a compound, learning what temperatures to work with so we don’t overheat it. We had to test different compounds to find the right way to do this. But I knew it was possible to make the right one. I feel satisfied."