Fox Friday: Fox Lane Junior David Matz Investigates Cell Biology

Fox Friday is a series that highlights the accomplishments of students in the Bedford Central School District.

We hope to regularly feature the incredible things our students – whether they are excelling academically or athletically or they are quietly impressive – are up to.

To start, we are highlighting a few students in Fox Lane High School's Science Research Program and the extraordinary projects they have been working on.

Today’s Fox Friday focuses on junior David Matz, who has been taking a deeper look into cells and how a protein in the blood might affect them.

Can you explain your project?

My project is about how the removal of a modification of a very important blood protein affects the survival of cells. The protein, called EKLF, would normally have a methyl group added to it (a modification called methylation), changing how it interacts with other proteins. Measuring how the inability of this modification to occur affects cells will determine the importance of this modification.

What led you to study this topic?

I initially did not know what I wanted to research beyond something vaguely related to biochemistry. I was taking chemistry at the time and loved the class. My project kind of found me; I stumbled across it as I was searching for a mentor, and the fact that what the research is covering is new ground — the methylation of EKLF only quite recently has been discovered — really reeled me in.

How did you find your mentor? What has that experience been like?

I was lucky enough to be accepted by my mentor, whom I found while browsing the faculty of relatively nearby research institutes, and I got even luckier still when I was given the opportunity to do in-lab work and data collection! It has been an awesome learning experience that taught me a lot about how people learn about elements of the cell as well as what it is like to be someone who does science research as a profession..

What did the research process look like for this project?

Much of the time that I spent in the lab was not actually oriented around gathering data for my project; instead, I spent a great amount of time learning how to conduct the necessary procedure and how it worked via a combination of research, observation, asking questions, and conducting trial runs. This paid off immensely!

Were you surprised by any of your findings?

One thing that was kind of surprising to me about my results was that they yielded something good at all! I conducted a procedure known as western blotting which takes a long time — three days plus weeks to culture cells — and is very finicky even for seasoned professionals. However, with a combination of all my preparation and my mentor's advice, things ended up working out!

How could your research benefit society in the long term?

Many complications can occur when there are issues with EKLF or the modification of proteins; without protein modifications many issues can arise such as cancer, and complications with EKLF can cause various debilitating blood diseases. Thus, as my research is about both of these things and is a pioneer in the topic of EKLF methylation, it can pave the way for future research and medical trials related to correcting these diseases.

Did you learn anything unexpected during the process or from the course in general?

What I think all people considering joining Science Research should know is that although it is a lot of work, it is extremely worth it! It all pays off immensely and provides you with an experience that you could never have otherwise. At the start of my sophomore year, I didn't know the first thing about cell biology, let alone all of the specifics that I know today. Science Research has taught me so much, not only about biology, but also lab procedures and the profession of research as a whole in a way that I could never get without the class.

Do you have any advice for students considering the Science Research program?

I recommend that everyone who is remotely interested in science take the class — the skills, knowledge, and experiences that it provides cannot be found in any other class!