What was your favorite part about doing the research project and why?
My favorite part of the research project on the Pink1 gene was learning how important it is for maintaining healthy mitochondria through mitophagy. I found it interesting that Pink1 helps remove damaged mitochondria to protect cells, especially in tissues with high energy demands like neurons and gut transport cells. This made me better understand how cellular energy regulation connects to disease processes such as Parkinson’s disease, which made the project feel relevant to real medical applications
What was something about your project or the research process that surprised you and why?
One thing that surprised me during the project was how strongly Pink1 expression is linked to regions with high metabolic activity, like the copper cell region of the midgut. I did not realize before this project how closely mitochondrial quality control is connected to ion regulation and acid secretion. It showed me that a single gene can have very specific regional roles in the body, which helped me better understand how gene expression patterns relate to specialized cell function