Developing a research idea and module 3

The module 3 research proposal was a novel experience that showed how much work goes into developing a research idea. Initially hoping to create a lysogenic, non-lytic bacteria from a known eukaryotic virus by conferring the mechanism of M13 exit, we eventually began to think that the more feasible approach would be to modify M13 bacteriophage to infect human cells. However, we quickly realized the difficulty and uncertainty of this process, as certain aspects of viral entry and exit involved mutagenesis and then hoping that these compounds bound. In addition, each step along the way we realized the small factors we needed to account for in our proposed procedure. We thought we could use human analogs to Tol Q, R, and A membrane proteins to initiate phage DNA penetration. It turned out there were no common precursors, and we were forced to turn towards using a cell receptor. Realizing we needed to transfer the DNA from the cytosol to the nucleus unlike in bacteria where the DNA is floating freely, we thought to use a nuclear localization sequence. Then realizing that a nuclear localization sequence is made of amino acids and not nucleotides, we thought to insert the DNA close to a positively charged protein that could carry it to the nucleus. Overall, this experience really showed me the difficulties of scientific research, as each step can have a number of issues that need to be fixed.

The module 3 process of building a battery from M13 was the part of the class that I was looking forward to. This topic seemed like a really cool idea and completely different from the majority of scientific work that I am familiar with. While I was a little disappointed that a large part of the lab sections were completed by Jifa rather than us, I thought the end result was pretty exciting. I actually created a practical object that could be used in real life and I could take back to my house.

20.109 has been one of the most fun classes during my time at MIT. I really enjoyed the hands-on application of biological engineering principals, getting to spend time in the lab with a close friend and also work on reporting our actual results. I learned a lot about scientific writing by having to write reports on each of the modules. In addition, I got to practice my oral presentation skills, an experience that has been lacking from my MIT education so far, even if it was a little stressful and got my blood pumping a little too much. I thought it was a lot of fun and a very different experience from other classes to actually design our own experiment and attempt to create a viable research proposal. Overall, this class taught me a lot about biological engineering and some of the necessary skills both inside and outside the lab while still being a blast.