Wynton Brown: Addiction Research at TSRI, La Jolla Week Four

Week four of my time in La Jolla has been fantastic. It was an exciting week in the lab as we received the new GWAS rats. These rats are different from the normal rats in that it is an outbred group rather than an inbred one. Most of the rats they work with are inbred, for the purpose of removing genetic differences as a factor in the results. With this new, genetically diverse group they will be able to see how substances and treatment of dependence on those substances effects a group of genetically diverse rats. This brings using rats as a way to test treatments that could be used on humans, as humans are extremely diverse, both genetically and in their environments. We got to spend a lot of time with these rats. We had to weigh and mark the tails of all 200 or so rats, as well as handle each of them for a few minutes, so they would be less anxious when being handled in the future. Through my time here I have come to really like rats. Other than that in the lab both Ry and I were assigned to make presentations about buprenorphine, I focused on preclinical research, while Ry focused more on its effects in humans. To do this we used PubMed, a free database of scientific papers regarding medicine. Buprenorphine, as I found, is important in addiction research, it is widely regarded as an effective way to end cocaine dependence and be beneficial against heroin dependence. Next week is going to be a busy week in the lab, as we are dissecting and doing surgeries all week.

Outside of the lab, I have continued to have a good time. This week week we went to the beach multiple times, and made good use of Claire’s pool. At the grocery store we bought a jackfruit, a giant 15 pound fruit. It took us quite a while to cut into it, but it was worth it. It tasted like pineapple, mango, and banana mixed together.