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4 Gel box The modified gene may or may not change the kinds of antibodies the cells produce. The researchers check by suspending the proteins in a gelatin matrix, then running an electric current through them. This separates the proteins by size, making them easy to examine.

5 Leah Olson (biology) uses a similar process to examine the effect of a hormone called leptin in the brains of inch-long fish. At first, students don’t think it’s possible to dissect a brain that small, she says, but “it’s not that hard. You do it under a microscope, using tiny scissors.”