PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Before moving into research on insects, I collaborated on different groups related to virology and immunology. Some of this work was also focused on protein receptors or the mammalian intestine, and this experience would feed into pathogenesis and physiology of insect midguts.
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Rotavirus biologyThe groups of Dr. Susana López and Dr. Carlos Arias at the Institute of Biotechnology-UNAM work on virology research, mainly the gastroenteric rotavirus and astrovirus. These pathogens cause severe diarrhea and are one of the leading causes of infant mortality. At the time of my stay in this lab, the specific pathway through which rotavirus entered the cells after binding to its receptor on the cell surface was unclear. I investigated if the protein flotillin-1 had a role in the mechanism of pinching of membrane vesicles that introduced the virus into epithelial cells.
At these labs, I also took part in the preliminary phases of the design on a microchip to detect common and novel gastroenteric and respiratory virus in patients. In this phase, I participated in collating information for the phylogenetic sequence database to identify target sequences. |
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