Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program at UC Davis

Carlos Estrada graduated from California State University, Chico, in May 2018, with a degree in Biological Sciences with the option in Cellular and Molecular Biology. He is currently working in Bruce Draper’s lab studying the sex determination and maintenance of the adult sexual phenotype in zebrafish. Members of the Draper lab have identified two zebrafish genes that are likely linked to estrogen biosynthesis, normal female sexual development, and maintenance of the female differentiated state. Carlos will use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to create new transgenic zebrafish lines and produce gene knock-out/knock-in lines to determine the role of a gap-junction protein in the exchanging of these signals and, ultimately, in the sex determination of zebrafish.