Mrinalini and Giddeon

Nicknames: Mini and Gid
Ages: 20s

Mini is a PhD student who recently arrived from Washington University in St. Louis. (When she first arrived we got to swap lots of St. Louis stories!) Giddeon is her boyfriend and the second-in-command of her research project. They’ll soon be joined by a small army of five field assistants, and their project should last as long as Sarah and I are here. We’re excited to have so many long-term visitors on the way!

It’s generally agreed that Mini has the coolest research project ever. She is investigating chimerism in saddle-back tamarin monkeys. Saddle-back tamarins have a remarkably high occurrence of twinning: about 85% of pregnancies result in twins. While in the womb, twins often swap stem cells, resulting in chimeric individuals whose skin cells may have a different genetic code than, say, their liver cells. It gets even stranger: sometimes twins swap germ-line cells. In these cases, a twin’s offspring actually belong, genetically speaking, to it’s sibling. Mini and Giddeon are investigating how this genetic mix-up affects the social behavior of tamarin troupes. Their goal is to capture 80 tamarins, take samples (including the hair, blood, and semen), collar them, release them, and observe their social behavior.

I could go on, but Mini and Giddeon have already set up an amazing website about their project. Check it out here: http://www.primatesperu.com/home Be sure to read their blog if you want more frequent updates about CICRA than yours truly sometimes provides. ;)

Random facts:
Mini uses a device which we've fondly termed the “electro-ejaculator” to get sperm samples from her male monkeys. (Imagine trying to explain that one to Peruvian customs officials.) She is also teaching us some traditional Indian dance steps!

Giddeon also likes to dance. At parties, he always ends up leading everyone in new steps he’s invented, such as the “Thousands of Mosquitoes are Biting Me!” and the “I Have No Sense of Balance!” Don’t let the titles of his more inventive numbers fool you, though; he’s actually a great dancer. He may also be responsible for introducing an entire generation of Peruvians to the Electric Slide.