On Firsts

As I sat down to write the first blog post of the first module of my first course 20 lab class, I began to appreciate how much I really learned in this past month and a half. It really has been a module of firsts. Nearly all of the experimental methods were new to me, except for dilutions and measuring fluorescence intensity. It was fascinating to learn about and carry out protein purification, SDS-PAGE, and the small molecule microarray assay. And afterwards, looking at our top hits and their molecular structures and actually seeing similarities between them was really exciting! It combined theory with proof.

In 7.05 we had started the year off by learning about SDS-PAGE and protein purification methods: affinity columns, ion exchange columns, and gel filtration chromatography. These were all methods that I was learning about for the first time. So when we ended up using the Ni-NTA column to purify our elusive FKBP12, and gauging our success with an SDS-PAGE gel, I was really excited to be using the concepts from 7.05 in action! I might be confused most of the time in biochem, but I can answer an SDS-PAGE gel question!

But of course, after all the fun experiments were done, we had to go on to the hard part: writing up the experiment and results as a concise narrative for the data summary. Writing does not usually come naturally to me, and I realized through the homework assignments that technical writing is especially hard. Thankfully my lab partner, Vivian, is the real MVP and helped me/ taught me a lot, such as by changing my SNR distribution graph legend's title from "Top hits that followed trendline" to "Correctly identified top hits." Improving my technical writing will take a lot of practice, so I'm grateful for the copious notes from Leslie and Noreen on our homework assignments on how to improve.

I have also learned that I enjoy making schematics. Admittedly, my first schematic was terribly redundant, but I think that, with Leslie’s comments, I’m starting to get a hang of it. This turned out to be a helpful skill when my urop supervisor asked me to make a schematic for one of our experimental methods for a patent proposal.

Now, on to seeing whether compound 401 and olaparib can selectively eliminate cancer cells!