Brent Sorensen
Masters Student

My name is Brent Sorensen. I have a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Lethbridge in Canada. During my last year there, I worked in the laboratory of Dr. Randall Weselake on the flax project. We investigated the oil forming mechanisms in flax (Linum usitatissamum) to determine if they are able to incorporate nutraceutical fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). My expertise is mainly in enzymology. I used radiolabeled materials to perform enzyme assays and incorporation studies. I spent a lot of time in particular characterizing the enzyme diacylglygerol acyltransferase (DGAT), which is involved in the final step of oil formation.  

Currently, I am at the Institute for the Biology of Farm Animals in Dummerstorf, Germany, where I will start my Masters under the supervision of Dr. Jochen Wegner. I will continuing on with the adipogenesis project. Among other things, I will be investigating the expression of DGAT throughout the process of adipogenesis.