Personal Profile
Peter Jaksa
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Hi! My name is Peter Jaksa. I am very excited about being a part of the lab team on this year’s Antarctica expedition. I was born in Toronto, Ontario and I am now a 4th year student at York University studying Kinesiology and Health Science. I have had several years of lab experience working in Dr. Thomas Hawke’s muscle physiology lab at York University, as well as other labs studying developmental biology and hematology at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children. I am thrilled to be a part of the team working in Dr. Hawke’s laboratory and I can’t wait to answer your questions and deliver you interesting findings. |
Peter_jaksa's Recent Blog Entries
Answers to Challenge Questions
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Thu Nov 30 07:11:17 2006
Hello Everyone,
Take a look in the challenge questions section for the answers to my latest questions.
Peter @ York University
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Week 7 Report from the Lab Team
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Wed Nov 22 11:31:10 2006
Hello Polar Scientists!
We've just posted the Week 7 Report from the Lab Team in the Expedition News focus area.
This is a very exciting time for the Lab Team! Now that we have been working very hard at perfecting our procedures on mouse muscle tissue, we are beginning to perform experiments on Weddell seal muscle tissue. In this week's update I describe: the differences I have noticed between mouse and Weddell seal tissue; the.....
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Answers for Crossword Puzzle
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Mon Nov 13 18:52:06 2006
Hi Everyone,
Here are the answers to the crossword puzzle I posted last week. I hope you all enjoyed it.
Across:
1.Nucleus
5.Expands
7.Diffusion
9.McMurdo
10.Satellite
11.Pup
Down:
2.Cryostat
3.Cardiovascular
4.Juvenile
6.Holes
8.Weddell
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New Cross-word Puzzle
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Tue Nov 7 07:32:02 2006
Hello Everyone,
I have posted a cross-word puzzle in the Investigations and Research Focus Area. (Or just click the link below to access the puzzle.) I will post the answers in about a week.
Have Fun!
Peter Jaksa @ York University
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New Lab Team Photo
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Mon Nov 6 10:20:55 2006
Hello everyone,
I thought that you would all like to see the latest results from the Lab Team. Click on the link to see my results from immunohistochemistry for the dystrophin protein. There is a caption below the picture to describe the results.
Feel free to ask me any questions about the image or anything else we are studying.
Peter Jaksa @ York University
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Hint for Lab Team Challenge Question
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Fri Nov 3 10:54:10 2006
Hello Everyone,
I have already received some fantastic responses to my challenge question. I thought that I would give a hint for the second question I asked: "Why do skeletal muscle cells have more than one nucleus?".
Hint:
A skeletal muscle cell is shaped like a very long fibre. The cells are considerably longer than most other cells in the body, which only have one nucleus.
I eagerly await your answers! Thank you to everyone who has posted an answer already!
Peter Jaksa
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Week 4 Challenge Questions from the Lab Team
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Wed Nov 1 07:55:51 2006
Hi everyone,
We've just posted our Week 4 Report in the Expedition News focus area. After you read it, see if you can answer these questions.
As described in my update, skeletal muscle cells have many nuclei within a single cell. What is the job of the nucleus within a cell? Why do you think skeletal muscle cells have more than one nucleus?
I'll look for your answers in the Challenge Questions Messages Area.
Peter @ York.....
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Week 4 Report from the Lab Team
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Wed Nov 1 07:32:24 2006
Hello again fellow Polar Scientists!
I am very excited to tell you about the progress I have made in the last few weeks. As Jesse and Sophia described, we have had our fair share of obstacles, but we have learned to become very skilled at cryosectioning. In my last update I briefly described the process of immunohistochemistry that I will be using to study muscle stem cell number and distribution in Weddell seals.
Read this week's update in the Expedition News focus area to learn about.....
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Experiments in the Lab
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Fri Oct 27 13:05:33 2006
Hello everyone,
I spent today in the lab learning Immunohistochemistry. For a review of this procedure refer back to the first update from the lab team. I have some very nice pictures of my results that I will share with everyone in my next update.
Peter Jaksa
York University
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Answers to Lab Team Week 1 Challenge Questions
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Wed Oct 18 18:56:23 2006
Questions #1:
What does the prefix “cryo-” mean in cryosectioning?
Answer:
Good job Lindsay, Andrew, Idel and Michael. The word “cryo-” means cold or frozen. It is important that when we section the muscle tissue into thin slices we keep the tissue frozen so that it preserves its characteristics as if it were just obtained from a living Weddell seal. This way when we perform experiments we know that our results are accurate.
Question #2:
Based on what you were told about the.....
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Answers to questions
Posted By Peter_Jaksa, Dr. Hawke on Fri Oct 13 08:52:43 2006
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your questions and please keep them coming.
Question #1 from Allison Rex:
How can you tell how old a seal is?
Great question! Several researchers in the past have tried to figure out reliable methods of determining the age of Weddell Seals and have had some success. These attempts have included measuring how long it takes a pup to lose all of the umbilical cord, or measuring tooth wear. For our purposes we do not need to know the exact age of the seals.....
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