OBU students published in journal

ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist University students Jace Bradshaw and AlleaBelle Gongola were recently accepted for publication in JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, for their scientific research paper, “Rapid Verification of Terminators Using the pGR-Blue Plasmid and Golden Gate Assembly.”

The two-part project began after Gongola, a senior psychology major from Dardanelle, began her research in bioinformatics, a field that uses computer software to analyze DNA. Gongola first became interested in the project after taking an Intro to Bioinformatics course in the spring. Upon completing the course, she was invited by Nathan Reyna, associate professor of biology, to extend the class and conduct extra research.

“OBU professors are always willing to invest in us and give us opportunities for research experiences,” Gongola noted.

Bradshaw, a junior biology, chemistry and physics major from Arkadelphia, first became interested in the project after taking classes in bioinformatics and genetics and working in synthetic biology. He took Gongola’s data