Thanks in part to her sixth grade science teacher, Bernadette So is now a graduate student in molecular biology, doing research that may lead to help for infants born with underdeveloped lungs. That teacher dressed in a brown Hefty bag one Halloween to depict a monk named Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics. Bernadette admired the woman's dramatic flair and other qualities. "She was always very supportive, so it got me interested in science."

A decade or so later, Bernadette is part of a research team working to understand how living things develop at a molecular level. For years now, scientists have been figuring out what a gene or protein does by creating an organism that lacks the gene and studying what happens to it. In Bernadette's case, the organism is a mouse missing a gene called BMP3, which is expressed in bone cells.

However, the scientists observed "something that has nothing to do with bone," Bernadette says. "These mice seem to have a lung defect as well. When they're born, they have trouble breathing. They can't inflate their lungs, and I'm trying to figure out why." What she has learned is that mice lacking BMP3 "are a developmental stage behind when they're born."

In the next couple of months, Bernadette says, "We're hoping that the project will be pulled together in a nice story," her dissertation. That story may provide interesting reading for doctors who treat newborn human babies with underdeveloped lungs. Doctors have been trying various ways "to help increase their development so they can survive outside the womb," Bernadette says. "We're hoping that what we're doing might provide some insight."

Although Bernadette acknowledges that "my mice take up a whole lot of time," she also invests more than a few hours in the Biological Sciences Council, a Graduate Student Association body that represents more than a dozen departments. This year, she serves as co-president.

Besides distributing funds from graduate student fees to programs that benefit graduate students, the Council works on an issue each academic year. This year, it's parking. Graduate students in biological sciences have special parking issues, she says, because "we don't work normal hours. The experiment we're doing determines what time we have to come in to campus."

Bernardette's road to UCLA led through Barnard College, where she worked with a scientist who studied molecular evolution and focused her interest on molecular biology. Although she applied to several schools, "once I interviewed at UCLA, I was convinced that I wanted to come here," she says. A key influence was the ACCESS program, which allows graduate students to explore several research areas before deciding on a program. "When I got to this project, I found it very interesting, and the laboratory environment was very supportive," Bernadette says. She liked the fact that "my adviser, Karen Lyons, actually still does bench work" and was available to provide "hands-on input."

Being part of an IDP has been a definite asset, she says, linking her to faculty and graduate students in a wide range of research areas. Graduate students in the molecular biology IDP meet regularly to discuss their projects and practice presenting data. Although they work on different projects, they often use similar techniques. "If you describe a problem," she says, "somebody will always have some way of helping you."

Published in Spring 2004, Graduate Quarterly