Jessica Cote

Jessica Cote

Apr 24, 2020

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    About This Project

    To “show one's metal” is to reveal one’s strength of character. Ticks may have tiny character, but I propose they do have metal! As blood sucking parasites, ticks must penetrate thick animal skin to obtain food. I propose that ticks enrich their appendages with metals to strengthen them for penetration. I intend to use electron microscopy to quantify the chemical elements in the appendages of deer, dog, and lone star ticks to observe their composition and determine if ticks employ metals.

    Blast off!

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    A biology project funded by 14 people