Haewon Shin

Program: Computational and Systems Biology

Current advisor: David Wang, PhD

Undergraduate university: Washington University, 2021

Enrollment year: 2021

Research summary
Novel methods of Orsay virus expression in C. elegans

Orsay virus (ORV) was isolated in 2011 and is the first known virus capable of naturally infecting the C. elegans nematode. Since its discovery, it has been exploited to elucidate mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction and evolutionary virology in C. elegans, many of which have conserved homologs in humans.

My rotation project sought to evaluate a potential method of ORV expression that bypasses the traditional reverse genetics method of generating recombinant nematodes that express ORV cDNAs. Using the C. elegans’ innate RNA interference system, I fed the nematodes E. coli expressing ORV single- and double-stranded DNA. Production of replication-competent virus was assayed using quantitative PCR.

Graduate publications