Kirienko, Natasha V.Wagner, Daniel2021-12-062021-12-062021-122021-12-01December 2Anderson, Quinton Levi. "Caenorhabditis elegans as a tool for high-throughput screening and gene network analysis." (2021) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111756">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111756</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111756Often, we think of mitochondria as simply as the powerhouse of the cell, but we have come to understand that they are crucial to multiple facets of cellular health. Mitochondria are involved in the production of ROS (reactive oxygen species), fatty acid metabolism, and calcium storage. Mitochondria are also extremely dynamic organelles that undergo fusion, fission, and biogenesis. While mitochondria are often involved in the health of the cell, mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to serval pathologies from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. In order to understand the genetic bias of these diseases, high throughput screening assays needs to be used. In my thesis I will discuss the development of a high throughput assay that can be utilized to understand interactions in a host-pathogen system, or an activation of the fluorescent reporter. This assay may allow us to understand the genetics that leads to observable phenotypes. These observations can be catalogued and placed into a pipeline that becomes a predictive model to treat human diseases. This advent will allow for a more personalized form of treatment options for patients.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.MitochondriaMitophagyMitocansMitochondrial DysfunctionHost-pathogen InteractionsC. elegansThesis2021-12-06