Well if everything goes as
planned, I should be finishing up my portion of the project really soon. Now
that the finish line is in sight I can finally see how everything I did led up
to our ultimate goal, which was something that seemed so abstract to me even just
a couple weeks ago. In short, our Lab does a lot of mRNA analysis to see the
various types of proteins that are being made during periods of influenza
infection and periods without infection. To do this, people have to do a lot of
RNA extraction, which is almost too good at getting RNA. I say it’s too good
because upwards of 90% of the extracted RNA is ribosomal RNA, or rRNA, which
will be there regardless of infection, person, or even species (Every living
organism uses ribosomes). I did the extraction of the 45S precursor gene for
rRNA. I created primers flanking the coding regions within the 45S precursor
gene. I then amplified these regions through PCR, which actually was the
hardest part of everything, and then sent off the successful amplicons for
sequencing. Then we plan on using a cloning protocol to put these amplicons
into separate plasmids and grow them in E.
Coli. This is done so we don’t have to continuously run PCR to get more
rRNA sequences. Right now I am working on the online tool, Benchling, once
again, to make specific sequences for single-guide RNA, also known as the part
of CRISPR/CAS9 that binds to the appropriate sequence of DNA that is subject to
cleaving. Adam is going to stay in touch with me for the duration of the
project and will inform me how successful DASH is when we put our specialized
CRISPR/CAS9 into transcriptomic samples.
Being in the Ghedin Lab for seven and a half weeks has
really opened my eyes up to both the frustrations and elations of doing hands
on research and pushing the limits of human scientific knowledge. I always knew
that I liked science and I think that this experience has really cemented into
my mind that biological sciences is the field for me. I’d like to thank
everyone in my lab, specifically Adam, Nick, Tim, Alan, Mathilde, Alex and everyone
else who I’ve gotten to know so well over the past two months. I would extend a
special thanks to Dr. Ghedin for putting up with me for the past several weeks
and always being so helpful and open. I’m especially thankful to have that
sodium borate jug in the back named in my honor ;).
Outside
of the lab setting, just being in New York City and commuting and seeing the
people has also been very eye-opening. Just being surrounded by so many
different people of so many different backgrounds has no only changed the way I
see New York, it has also changed the way I behave (I’m certain my people
skills and ‘street smarts’ have improved this summer). So as I finish up my last
few days in the lab and prepare to return to the boring summer life I’ve known
since I was little, I really only have one question that I can’t for the life
of me figure out. How does everyone have pictures of themselves to doing work?
I feel like when I do bench work, I’m out there with gloves on, and so is
everyone else. So where people in these blog posts get their pictures from is
beyond me. But I suppose there will be plenty of time for lab pictures
throughout higher-education anyway, so of all the problems that I could have encountered
this summer, I can’t say that I’m too upset about this one. All in all, this
has been one of the best summers yet. 
Gonna miss the ol' bench
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