I thoroughly enjoyed these seminars. Not only did I learn more about other research that I might not have thought of exposing myself to, but I also got to know how these researchers became…researchers. To be completely honest, it’s nice hearing from the researchers who didn’t see themselves as researchers from their early undergraduate years.
Out of all of the seminars, it was really difficult to choose only one to talk about, so I’ve decided to pick two! I promise to keep it short-ish.
First up, Dr. Anne West, since her seminar is still fresh in this forgetful brain of mine. One question that she brought up was why she wanted to be a basic scientist. There are so many people who really look for research that will show immediate/direct benefits in real world applications. However, like what Dr. West explained through her captivating storytelling, basic science is so essential. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to progress as much as we have thus far. The fact that CRISPR was essentially discovered 30 years before it became popular in the science world is just mind blowing. Research that might seem pointless at first, might have a very important role in the future. On top of that, her research is really interesting. I wasn’t aware that neurons could change so much so quickly.
She really reminded me of why I like science so much; why I want to become a researcher. My love for epigenetics just keeps increasing!
Next up: Dr. Gersbach. His lab really interested me because he said that even though he’s known to be fiddling around in biomedical engineering, his colleagues don’t really consider him and his lab to be “biomedical engineering”. Instead, his lab and interests lie in many different fields, which is completely relatable. Who is only interested in one very specific topic their whole life? (okay, probably quite a few people, but I rest my case) He doesn’t want to limit himself. Out of all of this research this summer, I’ve kind of learned that each lab is a bit isolating. You could become lost within the narrow scope that your lab focuses on and not know what’s going on in the rest of the researching world. The fact that Dr. Gersbach is so willing to explore other fields and defy, I guess, labels is pretty cool. His research itself is very interesting because, even though I have absolutely no knowledge about engineering, I become completely intrigued whenever gene editing or genetic engineering is brought up (I’m a genome/epigenome freak, what can I say). It’s just so interesting to me, that I’d be willing to read articles upon articles on it (maybe).
Can you sense how interested and excited I am with all of this science? Can you? Because I think I can.
I guess all this proves that…science is cool.
