Meet Dylan Guerin of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The graduate student in Dr. Ai-Sun Tseng’s lab is currently training at his first course at CSHL: Cell & Developmental Biology of Xenopus: Gene Discovery and Disease where he has been perfecting his injection and imaging skills, and learning how others use Xenopus embryo in their work.

What are your research interests? What are you working on?
Our lab is interested in studying the mechanisms underlying regeneration. Specifically, I am interested in genes controlling embryonic eye regeneration in Xenopus laevis.

How did you decide to make this the focus of your research?
I was interested in regeneration before applying to graduate school. It is amazing to me how some animals can completely regrow lost appendages and it would be even more amazing if we could do that as well.

How did your scientific journey begin?
I am just naturally curious about the world and that curiosity was luckily encouraged by my parents. Science was the natural path to follow to feed that curiosity.

Was there something specific about the Cell & Developmental Biology of Xenopus: Gene Discovery & Disease that drew you to apply?
My advisor brought the Xenopus course to my attention as a way to interact with other Xenopus labs as we are the only lab in Nevada working with Xenopus. Personally, I wanted to learn how to perform micro injections and gain more experience with imaging.

What and/or how will you apply what you’ve learned from the course to your work?
The injection and imaging skills I learned here will be useful in my research as they are techniques we use in our lab but I have not had the chance to perfect until now.  From talking to others in the course, I have gained a new perspective about how they utilize the Xenopus embryo from a developmental point of view--where I look at it from a regenerative lens. They are similar but with some interesting differences.

What is your key takeaway from the course?
My key takeaway is that there are many different approaches to using Xenopus to answer scientific questions.

If someone curious in attending this course asked you for feedback or advice on it, what would you tell him/her?
The course is a good way to see what others in your field are doing. Also, you get as much out of the course as you put in.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
It was great to meet people from all over the world and get to know them. The personal interactions I have had here have been very enjoyable.

Dylan received a scholarship from the Howard Hughes Medical institute (HHMI) to cover a portion of his course tuition. On behalf of Dylan, thank you to HHMI for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Dylan for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.