UD team to study how genes cause blindness

Researcher, undergrad win $218K two-year federal grant.

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By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer Updated 1:05 AM Saturday, August 21, 2010

DAYTON — A University of Dayton genetics researcher and his student have won a National Institutes of Health grant to learn more about how birth defects develop in the eye.

The $218,250 two-year grant will fund Amit Singh, an assistant biology professor, senior Michaela Minichello and graduate students’ work to better understand the genes that cause pediatric blindness.

The team, working in UD’s labs for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering, are using 1,500 strains of drosophila, or fruit flies, to study how genes cause blindness.

“The fruit fly is a big model for understanding the genetic underpinnings of human diseases,” Singh said. “Once we can understand the process the next step is to look where we can step in to stop it.”

Fruit flies are the perfect vessel for genetic research because they are simply organisms with short life cycles that can be easily genetically manipulated, Singh said. In his lab are coolers full of the insects living in test tubes with a molasses-based, nutrient rich food at the bottom of each. Several grad students assist in Singh’s research.

Minichello is an undergraduate, but her work on a specific gene with Singh was recognized by Fight for Sight, a nonprofit that funds sight research.

She is working on her honor’s thesis to better understand the genes that develop the eye and iris. Her work is an example of an emerging push by universities to involve undergraduates in research.

“It is pretty unique to UD. You can’t find a lot of places that offer it,” she said.

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