diff --git a/workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores5.R b/workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores5.R
index a3c7d66d..ca73f6dc 100644
--- a/workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores5.R
+++ b/workflow/apps/r/calculate_interaction_zscores5.R
@@ -157,18 +157,19 @@ update_gene_names <- function(df, sgd_gene_list) {
 }
 
 generate_plot <- function(df, x_var, y_var = NULL, plot_type, color_var = "conc_num", title, x_label = NULL, y_label = NULL) {
-  # Base ggplot object
+  # Base ggplot object with conditional y mapping
   if (!is.null(y_var)) {
-    plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = {{x_var}}, y = {{y_var}}, color = {{color_var}}))
+    plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = !!sym(x_var), y = !!sym(y_var), color = !!sym(color_var)))
   } else {
-    plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = {{x_var}}, color = {{color_var}}))
+    plot <- ggplot(df, aes(x = !!sym(x_var), color = !!sym(color_var)))
   }
   
   # Handle different plot types
   if (plot_type == "scatter") {
-    plot <- plot + geom_point(shape = 3, size = 0.2, position = "jitter") +
-      stat_summary(fun.data = mean_sdl, geom = "errorbar", aes(y = {{y_var}})) +
-      stat_summary(fun = mean, geom = "point", size = 0.6, aes(y = {{y_var}}))
+    plot <- plot + 
+      geom_point(shape = 3, size = 0.2, position = "jitter") +
+      stat_summary(fun.data = mean_sdl, geom = "errorbar") +
+      stat_summary(fun = mean, geom = "point", size = 0.6)
   } else if (plot_type == "box") {
     plot <- plot + geom_boxplot()
   } else if (plot_type == "density") {
@@ -188,6 +189,7 @@ generate_plot <- function(df, x_var, y_var = NULL, plot_type, color_var = "conc_
 }
 
 
+
 generate_and_save_plots <- function(df, output_dir, prefix, variables, include_qc = FALSE) {
   plots <- list()