I study nuclear science, I love my classes. I got a crazy teacher who wears dark glasses. Things are going great, and they're only getting better. I'm doing alright, getting good grades... The future's so bright- I gotta wear shades.

So, good ol Dr. Jas did a lecture at Georgetown this semester in Modern Methods in Molecular Biology, for the Masters and PhD students. Jas had to come up with questions for his section of the exam. I have no idea what the F the answers to the questions are, but I had to give him mad props for the creative use of popular culture, on a topic that is generally not associated with all things 'cool'. Well played, Dr. Garee. Well played.

It takes real talent to combine science and twerking. I married a genius.

*If you really want to read the questions these should be a little easier to read than the graphics above. :)

Part A:

Your brilliant mentor is in the process of finishing some groundbreaking work on a gene which causes young pop stars to make bad decisions, which will probably lead to her winning the Nobel Prize. While in the final steps of submitting the manuscript she takes an ill fated cruise, which upon passing through the Bermuda triangle, vanishes never to been seen again. Fortunately for you, your mentor was somewhat technologically incompetent so she left all the computer files for the manuscript with you. Stockholm has agreed they will award the prize to you if you agree to finish and submit the manuscript. All that needs to be completed is the figure legend for the final and most critical figure. Using the data figures below please provide a figure legend including which regulatory element (or elements) is bound by the transcription factor “Twerk” you are studying and which of the regulatory elements (or elements) regulates activity of the gene in question. Please provide as much detail as possible including what controls were used. Gene structure with possible regulatory elements (RE) and primers used for ChIP assays is listed below.

Part B:

After all the seminal work and accolades on the regulation of the “Bad Decigene” and Twerk transcription factor you decide that you are going to take a “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach and decide to drop out of science and become a pop star. To speed up this process you decide to screen drugs that will regulate the Twerk transcription factor, and find a compound titled “Bieber hormone”. Please describe the technique you would use to determine all the sites in the genome where Twerk is binding when bound by Bieber hormone. Also, please describe the technique you would use to determine all the genes being actively transcribed in the cell when Bieber hormone is present.