Tiffany's Life in Room 233

Hi everybody!
My internship so far has been filled with an ABUNDANCE of information. Yesterday, my graduate student Gladys introduced me to Serotonergic Neurotoxic Metabolites of Ecstasy Identified in Rat Brain (Lau, Monks)...don't flinch, Andrew! After Gladys introduced me to this project, I wanted to get acquainted with the different materials that we would use in the lab over the next few weeks. So far I've been learning about immunohistochemistry, which is the process of localizing proteins in cells of a tissue section. We're going to use this concept to locate certain products in rat brain tissues--it's going to be an exciting experience!
Right now I am also studying exactly how Ecstasy (MDMA) will cause a neurotoxic effect in rats. I've learned that the neurotoxicity is not caused by direct injection of Ecstasy into the brain, but rather by metabolites, which are the products of the Ecstasy after the liver has detoxified it. I think that it is really interesting how the metabolites can are able to penetrate the brain barrier and accumulate in the stratum.
I am very excited for the next few weeks...and I'm looking forward to learning more about the neurotoxic processes in rats, since this research will contribute to understanding about similar processes in people.