EPIBOOSTER João Raio at CSIC for 3 weeks of intense training

Molecular endpoints following the seabass experiments

João Raio, a MSc student supervised by Patrícia Pereira and Laia Navarro-Martín was at IDAEA-CSIC from March 17th to April 11th 2025 to receive training regarding the assessment of gene expression. in seabass following the exposures carried out with the seabass under the scope of EPIBOOST.

Hard work in a short time was ahead of João, but the willingness to learn and dedication, together with all the support from the receiving team made this Exchange a successful story and EPIBOOST is proud of it! Under a hands-on approach that characterizes all EPIBOOST exchanges, João learned fine-tuned protocols to extract RNA and convert it into cDNA for gene expression quantification through real-time PCR. He managed to run himself real-time PCR assessment for five genes of interest within his MSc thesis scope plus appropriate reference genes. Beyond the wet-lab training, João was trained with the receiving team on high-throughput methods for real-time PCR analysis and bioinformatics on whole transcriptome (RNAseq) data. And… He also presented the results already obtained in Aveiro regarding the oxidative stress effects of cadmium and ciprofloxacin in seabass to the host team in a group meeting.

Thank you João for all the hard work and enthusiasm! We are looking forward to see your results and waving for your success! And… A huge thank you to Laia Navarro-Martín and the whole IDAEA-CSIC team for all the sharing and valuable knowledge Exchange.