In her first year at Iowa State, Yingjia (Nina) Huang (’29 biology) quickly learned how to use a Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing technique she had only seen in textbooks.
“The coolest part of my project was getting hands-on experience with CRISPR-Cas9, a powerful tool for creating precise mutations in yeast,” she said. “Applying it in real experiments was incredibly exciting.”
Huang works alongside her faculty mentor Mohan Gupta, associate professor of genetics, development, and cell biology. Gupta mentored two other undergraduates in the spring: Audrey Boswell ('27 biology); and Leticia Herrera ('27 biochemistry).
Discover more about Huang's undergraduate research and that of other LAS Dean's High Impact Award recipients in the complete College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) News article, "LAS undergraduate students propel research projects forward."