Trace the family tree back far enough – way past the chimpanzee and Neanderthal – and you might find a microscopic parasite, according to a University of Houston student researcher. Mahjabeen Khan, who graduated in January with a bachelor’s degree in biology, found a possible evolutionary link between mammals and an ancient type of protozoa called trypanosome. Trypanosomes are single-celled parasites often found in insects.
Khan’s research began in the genetics lab of Preethi Gunaratne, assistant professor of biology and biochemistry. While poring over data from the latest genetic sequencing technology, Khan and other students in the lab found that remnants of an ancient RNA editing mechanism found in trypanosomes may be present in mammals. The match suggests an evolutionary link between the trypanosome and mice that might also extend to humans, since the two mammals share similar genomes, Khan said.
As a senior, Khan presented her findings at UH’s Undergraduate Research Day, and Khan’s project was selected as one of the three best among dozens of the university’s budding researchers. Although research is a time-consuming enterprise requiring countless hours of toiling in a lab, the experience has been even more rewarding than she had hoped, Khan said. “Working as part of a team is what I like the most,” she said. With graduation behind her, Khan will be a post baccalaureate student at Baylor College of Medicine and is applying to medical school. Because of her performance in Gunaratne’s lab, she was selected to participate in a multidisciplinary ovarian cancer research group that includes Gunaratne and researchers at Baylor. To learn more about Mahjabeen Khan’s research and Preethi Gunaratne’s genetics classes, read the online article from the alumni newsletter, “Breakthrough.”
