Nectarine = Mutant Peach?!

What makes a peach a peach and a nectarine a nectarine? A single genetic mutation!

Trying to document grad school one YouTube video at a time, from lab equipment to genetics lessons to interviews with other students! Each week is a new view into life as a grad student, and the rollercoaster that is getting a PhD.

Twitter: @AlexDainis
Instagram: Alex.Dainis

Music:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

(All thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts or opinions of my institution.)

[AlexDewloft]

saw this on the trending page of youtube and im happy because you are making people learn. keep up the good work!

[supersmashsam]

This was a very good mash-up of your current vlogging style videos and your previous byte-sized capsules!

[Samuirai]

It's awesome to see science videos on youtube that actually show some lab work and not just read the wikipedia article.

[theconsciousentrepreneurs]

nectarines im obssessed with, dont really like peaches though, theyre too dry, nectarine are like 90% water theyre so delicious and refreshing. one of my favourite fruits

[antonymativos]

My understanding of this is still a little fuzzy, but you inspire me to keep advancing in my own field, which is computer science. Thanks :)

[AppliedScience]

I never would have guessed the visual difference in gel plates for the two fruits would be so striking. Great video!

[jbrowsingj]

FANTASTIC video! Even better than usual! I am sending this to everybody I know.

[HennerZeller]

Wonderful, nice video. Thank you!
I am always amazed that 60 years ago, we didn't even know yet how genetic information is encoded, and these days we are able to isolate pieces like here, or even can calculate how a folded protein might look like. Science is amazing.

[armadylos]

I absolutely love your videos, have had a little crush on you for years. They're so informative and you can see you enjoy what you do, keep going, Alex!

[teodoraspabreza]

You are so cool! I have never
seen any other video so interesting

[OpinionVille]

Great vid! Have you done a video about CRISPR yet?

[TotillyAverage]

It would be cool to talk about CAM plants or C4 plants as alternatives to C3 photosynthesis. Maybe get some pineapples (CAM plants) in there if you want to continue the fruit theme

[joec]

Crabgrass. Why is it that crabgrass thrives in drought, which we are experiencing in New England (your old stomping grounds) right now, but turfgrass does not? Might there be a way to introduce the drought-loving properties of crabgrass into lawn grasses like fescues and bluegrass through the magic of genetics?

[Cncrdance]

So glad you do what you do, Alex. Interesting stuff, and you make it fun!

[SgtMantis]

You did that better than my genetics professor.

[ltericdavis]

In the graphic at 3:00, it states that that the nectarine-specific allele segment is "too long, no amplification." What does that mean? I've worked with PCR a few times in my current undergraduate studies, I don't recall anything about segments not replicating because they are too big. I would have expected lower amplification levels, but not none. Or were you controlling for that during the PCR?

[garethraynes]

For summer themes, could do beach science? If you have a beach handy. Ooh or drought tolerance inducing endophytes, that's a bit planty/summery

Does the fuzz/no fuzz gene affect size? Peaches seem to be bigger than nectarines in the shops here (although yours look similar sizes)

[adityakhanna]

WOW! Well, that was wow.
Hey, could you do Hybrids? like Plumcot or something?
Well, they are deliciously intriguing.

[robinbakerbarr]

The coolest thing about this video is There's another Woman Doing Science on the WEB! How great for little girls to see they can grow up and do cool science stuff!

[KiloOscarZulu]

Can you explain how cultivars work? I just learnt that cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower are all the same plant (i.e. same species). They are all cultivars of the same plant. Is it similar to how we have numerous breeds of dogs, but they are all the same animal (i.e. same species) or cultivars are something different?