Lauren French encourages neurogenesis research of crayfish

French article photo

Students collaborate in hopes of reversing neurological disorders

By Tyler Stigall, Contributing Writer
February 19, 2015
The Campus

The laboratory of Dr. Lauren French, associate professor and department chair of biology at Allegheny, has a conspicuous lack of lab mice. French’s model organism of choice is a slightly less common test subject: the crayfish. Fortunately, she approaches her work with a sense of humor.

“This is the crunchy and squishy biology, as opposed to the warm and fuzzy,” she described.

What had been taken as biological gospel ten years ago is now being reexamined by Aydin Alikaya, ’15, and Gianni Vinci, ’15, two neuroscience students at Allegheny. The duo, former students and advisees of French, are exploring the process and mechanisms of neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells, in crayfish—hence her reference to the lack of lab mice.

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Source: Academics, Publications & Research