Our Crowdfunding Groups
CAN YOU HELP US SEND AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT TO SCOTLAND TO PRESENT THEIR VERY OWN RESEARCH AT THE INTERNATIONAL WORM MEETING?
Who We Are
Glow Worms is a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) within the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) at The University of Texas at Austin. We offer our very diverse group of freshman students an immersion research experience that allows them the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge academic research. We also aim to foster a commitment to open and collaborative science in our students at an early stage of their development.
Our Research
We utilize CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology in the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, to visualize the expression of worm genes that are closely related to human genes, with the ultimate goal of learning more about human diseases. We utilize undergraduate research as an innovative infrastructure for building this valuable collection of CRISPR-modified worms and we aim to serve the worldwide worm research community by making our worms widely available via the non-profit Caenorhabditis Genetics Center (CGC). To date we have submitted 30 worms to the CGC representing 30 different gene edits, and these worms have been requested over 100 times by the worm research community.
Why We Need Your Help
We are launching this crowdfunding campaign to raise money to send some of our amazing undergraduate students to Glasgow, Scotland to present their research on a world stage at the 2023 International Worm Meeting (IWM). Funds will be used to cover the cost of student travel, lodging, and meeting registration. We estimate the total cost at about $3000/student, so we're hoping to raise enough funds to support the travel of at least 5 students (but we will send as many students as we can if we can raise more!). Our $15,000 goal is SO much more than Glow Worms can afford with our very limited budget that supports research activities for 36 new undergrads each year. More importantly, our students are incredibly excited about the possibility of going to Glasgow and presenting their research to worm experts! Your gift is a chance for our students to travel abroad, connect to the worm research community on a personal level, and share the exciting CRISPR research that we are doing.
THANK YOU!
Our students would greatly appreciate your support! Meet some of these students in the video and bio links above and/or check out our social media at the links below! If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us for more information. Thank you so much for your generosity!
#GlasGlow23
https://twitter.com/utfriglowworms
https://instagram.com/utfriglowworms
Donate $25 and we’ll name an injected worm after you! We inject DNA into worms to get CRISPR edits. Maybe your worm will generate our next glow worm!
Donate $50 and receive a quarterly Glow Worms e-mail update with our latest CRISPR knock-in tips and gene targets in progress!
Donate $250 and you can choose the name of a piece of Glow Worms lab equipment for the 2023 cohort year! For example, our PCR machines in 2022 were named "Grandpa", "Dumpy", "Extravagance", and "George". :)
Donate $500 and you or your lab will be acknowledged as donors on our posters presented at the International Worm Meeting in Glasgow!
Donate $1000 and you or your lab will be listed as a donor on The University of Texas, Freshman Research Initiative, Glow Worms website (new site launching in January)!
