Check This Out! Hands-On Genetics Research

What does it take to study a disease that can take away a person’s ability to walk? In this Duke University biology course, undergraduate students are doing real research — dissecting fruit flies, imaging neurons, and investigating how genetic mutations affect the connections between nerves and muscles. Their work focuses on Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive loss of movement. This isn’t a simulation. It’s hands-on science, where failure, repetition, and discovery are all part of the process — and where even small findings can contribute…