This is where Kelly Foy, Washington College senior biology and psychology major, comes in. Along with research assistants Shauna Bolden, Matthew McDermott, Megan McMahon, and Leora-Leigh Ramiro, Foy works with biology professor Doug Darnowski to study and propagate carnivorous plants such as the sundew, carrying on the work that scientists like Darwin began. Foy is investigating the presence of a protein called profilin in sundews and what role it may play in the plants' capturing of insects. Her research and results will comprise her senior thesis. The senior thesis at Washington College fulfills part of the senior obligation.
Students submit their final product to their departments for approval in order to graduate.
Foy's protagonist plays a role in cell movement. To discover its presence in the tissues of the sundew, she uses what are called biological assays or analyses. Foy's main assays are tissue printing, Western blotting and affinity chromatography. All these scientific techniques detect the presence of profilin using antibodies to the protein that mark the substance. She hopes to put this experience in basic research to work after graduation.