{"id":20349,"date":"2021-05-19T12:08:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T16:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/?page_id=20349"},"modified":"2021-05-28T12:33:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T16:33:40","slug":"profile-eduardo-canto","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/biology.mit.edu\/undergraduate\/why-biology\/undergraduate-testimonials\/profile-eduardo-canto\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Eduardo Canto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Childhood hobbies jump-start a research career<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

MIT Biology junior Eduardo Canto tinkered with science long before he started studying Treacher Collins syndrome in the Calo lab.<\/h3>\n

Saima Sidik<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

In seventh grade, Eduardo Canto wanted a dog. His mom said no, though. She didn\u2019t want to spend her days vacuuming fur. They reached a compromise: Canto was allowed to have pet fish. Soon Canto\u2019s disappointment with his new pets turned to curiosity. While he couldn\u2019t train the fish to sit or roll over, he decided that breeding the fish could be a fun pastime.<\/p>\n

An internet search told Canto that some aquarists use dried Indian almond leaves, a traditional Asian herbal remedy, to stimulate fish breeding, although no one is quite sure how the leaves do this. However, finding Indian almond leaves presented a problem for a kid without an Amazon account living far from the tree\u2019s native habitat. On a whim, Canto picked up some similar-looking leaves in a park near his house in Puerto Rico. He knew they weren\u2019t from an Indian almond tree, but he put them in the tank anyhow, just to see what would happen. A few days later, he noticed a collection of eggs attached to the bottom of a leaf!<\/p>\n

Canto often took on little experiments like this, which caused his grandfather to predict early on that he would have a scientific career. Eight years after the breeding endeavor, Canto is fulfilling his grandfather\u2019s prediction by studying Course 7 (Biology) at MIT, where he\u2019s currently in his third year of a bachelor\u2019s degree. Once again, fish have come into Canto\u2019s life \u2014 he\u2019s working in Eliezer Calo\u2019s lab<\/a>, where researchers use zebrafish to study a genetic disorder called Treacher Collins syndrome, which causes deformities in eyes, ears, cheekbones, and chins.<\/p>\n

\"Man
Course 7 major Eduardo Canto works in the Calo lab studying a genetic disorder called Treacher Collins syndrome.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout middle school and high school, Canto dipped his toes into many scientific disciplines. School science fairs motivated him to build a dry ice-powered trolley, a solar-powered water heater, and start a vegetable garden.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, he admits, his motivation for joining science clubs wasn\u2019t lofty. \u201cI joined the math club because I got to miss a day of school every year for their annual competition,\u201d he says with a laugh. But he also talks excitedly about his early experiments, particularly in biology. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved working with my hands,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Canto\u2019s father, a medical doctor, encouraged his son\u2019s interest by letting Canto shadow him at work. He also started a molecular biology summer program at Canto\u2019s high school that taught students how to pipette and do simple experiments. By the time Canto applied to college, he was convinced he wanted to study biology, and MIT drew his attention because of its reputation as a top science school with excellent biology teachers. He knew it was the right choice for him when he attended Campus Preview Weekend, and found a large Puerto Rican community ready to welcome him. Even far from the island, he felt at home.<\/p>\n

Canto has kept up with his roots since joining MIT by playing on a soccer team for Puerto Rican students. He\u2019s also become part of a new community in a lab run by Eliezer Calo \u2014 who is a Puerto Rican himself<\/a>. The lab is interested in ribosomes, the molecular machines that build proteins. Treacher Collins syndrome arises when cells can\u2019t make ribosomes properly, and Canto wants to understand why that is.<\/p>\n

Before Canto joined the Calo lab, the group had already started studying a protein called DDX21<\/a> that\u2019s involved in making ribosomes in both humans and zebrafish. When genetic mutations in zebrafish cause DDX21 to go to the wrong part of the cell, the fish develop jaw deformations that mirror Treacher Collins syndrome. The Calo lab thinks cells with mislocalized DDX21 probably don\u2019t produce ribosomes as well as normal cells, but they\u2019re still testing this hypothesis.<\/p>\n