COMSOL Modelling
Research Goal
In this research project, we were investigating a certain worm embryo, C. elegans. Once it develops, biologists found that the digestive and circulatory systems were twisted once in the middle. This chirality was of interest to us, and our task was to explain how this came to be in the worm. Our hypothesis was during the cytokinesis from the four-cell stage to the six-cell stage, where it was predicted that the torque of the adhesive forces would twist the embryo.
Methods
I met with Dr. James Feng in March of 2023 to discuss how I could volunteer in his research. Dr. Feng agreed to let me assist one of his third-year mathematics students, Jun, in a summer research project. From here, I was introduced to computational biology.
Jun and I were introduced to COMSOL Multiphysics, a computational software specifically for mathematically-heavy physics computations. Here, we modelled the cytokinesis of a singular cell to determine the speed at which the cell was splitting in half.
Results
Although we tried our best to do as much as possible over the summer, the research project did not go as expected until when it concluded in late August. Still, I learned so much over the summer, tinkering with the COMSOL application to compute and create really cool things that no sane human could ever do without assistance from such software. This was also my first interaction working in a research group, and I learned that, despite the age gap between me as a high schooler and Jun as a third-year university student, teamwork still remains essential.