Mullins Molecular Retrovirology Laboratory
Seattle, WA, United States
The Mullins Laboratory at the University of Washington is a research lab focused on the study of retroviruses and their mechanisms of infection and disease. Led by Dr. James Mullins, the lab uses a combination of molecular, computational, and virus biology techniques to better understand the genetic diversity of retroviruses, with the goal of developing new treatments and therapies for retroviral infections.
As an undergraduate research assistant at the Mullins Laboratory, I had the opportunity to contribute to the lab's efforts to understand the relationship between HIV and its human hosts. I assisted the Lead Scientific Programmer, Thomas Sibley, in identifying and extracting sequences of mutated genes in human genome sequences. I also developed algorithms that aided in the creation of targeted retroviral therapies for patients with HIV/AIDS.
One of my key contributions to the lab was the development of efficient and scalable data traversal algorithms for the ingestion and transformation of large human genome sequences. This allowed for more efficient analysis of the vast amount of data generated by the lab's research. I also used Hyperfreq, a tool for Bayesian analysis of APOBEC3G-induced hypermutations, to identify sequences of the genome likely to have been mutated.
Overall, my experience as an undergraduate research assistant at the Mullins Laboratory was a valuable learning opportunity that allowed me to contribute to important research in the field of retrovirology.