Home Department: Human Biology
Mentor: Anna Gloyn (Pediatrics - Endocrinology and Genetics)

"Functional CRISPRi Screening and Analysis of Custom Gene Library in Human Beta Cells"

Over 800 million people in the world have diabetes, which increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and results in premature death. There is more than one type of diabetes, but all forms result from a failure of pancreatic beta-cells to make and release sufficient insulin to lower blood sugar levels after a meal. Esmeralda’s project will use a new engineered human beta-cell line to screen hundreds of genes to see which ones are important for insulin production and release. Esmeralda’s project aims to identify novel regulators of beta-cell health and prioritize candidates for future therapeutic studies.