For those interested, Mikayla elected to join UTSW Graduate school where I predict she will have an outstanding PhD!

Mikayla did all of this while part of the UT Southwestern-Postbaccalaureate to PhD (PB2PHD) Program. I highly recommend those that want to go to graduate school but need more experience (both bench and coursework) to consider PB2PHD! Thanks @ajdiazphd.bsky.social for leadership on the PB2PHD

We have found the MNV-HiBiT viruses excellent and faithful reporters of MNV replication. We highly recommend this system for its speed, fidelity, and robust readouts! We also have had great success generating other viruses with HiBiT insertions, so worth a try in your favorite virus as well.

Mikayla inserted the small HiBiT tag into the MNV genome. The HiBiT fragment can complement with the LgBiT fragment and form a functional nanoluciferase. She showed that this works in cell lysates and tissue lysates with great dynamic range and sensitivity. No need for engineered cell lines!