From June 8th to July 18th, Zhang Minzhu, a junior student who belongs to Plant Protection department of our college, participated in UTSIP summer program organized by the University of Tokyo. During her stay in Japan, she was quite lucky to have opportunity to experience some research programs under the guide of Prof. Kataoka and Prof. Nagata. Moreover, she also took Japanese language, calligraphy classes, watched traditional Japanese play----kabuki and took a trip to Suntory corporation known for their devotion to preserve underground water resources.
As for the research experience in the University of Tokyo, she finished a small project aimed at exploring the relationship between insulin-like peptide and food intake behavior of crickets under the supervision of Prof. Nagata and his PHD student Yusuki Tsukamoto. Later she got a better understanding of the mechanism via various experiments like dissection of different tissues of crickets and testing two different insulin-like peptides’ distribution among them, captures target peptides through TOF-MS, using qRT-PCR to test different food’s influence on crickets’ food intake preference and so forth. Fortunately, some of the most advanced and expensive equipment of integrated bioscience department like TOF-MS are accessible to her, which obviously excited her and benefited her.
Additionally, her communication with Japanese professors, graduate students and UTSIP students really makes the most unforgettable memory of her life. Clean and well-organized lab, diligent students, passionate and easygoing teachers, and her dearest partners from all over the world not only left her an undeletable impression, but also tremendously broadened her horizon.
short trip to Suntory and their natural water reserve
kabuki performance in national theater of Japan
group photo after final presentation
certificate was issued during the closing ceremony