Hi everyone! I am Sid Ghanta and I’m excited to both experience and blog about my summer with BSURF.
This summer I am working with the Varghese Lab, although I have been there for some time now. There, I’ve been learning about and investigating different phenomena in the body using Organ-on-chip models, a method that creates a miniaturized 3-D cell environment mimicking tissues in the body. Moreover, it incorporates microfluidic channels, i.e. extremely tiny channels that allow fluid to move through them, that can be used to simulate movements in the body, such as blood flow or breathing. I’ve worked with numerous types of chips that seek to model areas of the body or different types of cell-cell interactions, each with unique features that aim to mimic different things, or maybe the same thing but in a new way.
I’ve always had an interest in biology and the inner workings of the body. Perhaps it sounds more philosophical than it is, but I was always curious what life was; how was it possible that everything in the body moves the way it does so perfectly and can exist in so many relatively unique forms. Additionally, as a kid, I was always quite handy with taking things apart and putting things together which is where my interest in the more mechanical side of the body was borne. This is what drew me to organ-on-chip research, a model that is so dynamic yet functional, which I hope to use in the near or distant future to investigate oncolytic virology, a long-standing interest of mine.
This summer, I am getting to focus on a specific investigation using this model and I am excited to apply what I have learned and learn some more; I finally feel like I am at the starting line of research after quite a bit of preperation. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what to expect from this because I have never dedicated this much time to the lab, but I know I want to learn and have fun doing it. Fortunately, this summer isn’t limited to just me and the lab, so I’m expecting a great time making new friendships, making new memories, and hopefully, making new discoveries.
