I am almost done watching the recorded on-demand sessions from ASMCUE 2022. Tonight I watched “Visualizing Diversity at the Junctions – a V(D)J Recombination Activity,” presented by Johanna Schwingel from St. Bonaventure University. They began by talking about antibody diversity ranging from 107-1015 different specificities! Wow. They also mentioned that combinations are around 106. There are additional sources of antibody diversity including P nucleotide addition, exonuclease trimming, and non-templated N nucleotide addition in addition to multiple gene segments (VDJ) and combinatorial diversity of heavy and light chains. Schwingel provides students with a simplified sequence with six possible variable regions, three possible diversity segments, five possible joining regions, and 1 constant region. Students use a random number generator, a random DNA sequence generator, and a sequence translation website. Students modify the sequence based on the options and the random number generator. Students then generate an mRNA sequence and translate it to the final protein. Finally, participants share their work on a Google Drive. Schwingel has surveyed students in 2021 and 2022, and all say it is worthwhile. I find this concept really challenging! Schwingel’s explanation and activity helped. I wonder how can this activity be made more accessible?
