As a wise man named Captain Joe once told me “Jonathan, you must take advantage of all life’s opportunities given to you.”, I sought out my hunt for opportunities here in Duke University. This summer research program is a huge opportunity for me to be able to take advantage of what Duke University has to offer. This is the 1st time I truly was able to take part in a science research project on a topic that is not fully understood; a project that I am discovering new things! I hope to gain experience about working in a lab, to set myself up for future projects or even future jobs within research laboratories, and to take advantage of any further opportunities given to me during these 8 weeks of research.
The 1st week of my lab in Dr. Terry Oas’ laboratory (link to website: http://www.oaslab.com) was quite exciting. I was shown how to operate some of the machines within the laboratory as well as how to prepare the materials and samples needed for a particular portion of the experiment. Mostly this 1st week was not a lot of getting my hands dirty and more like trying to get used to the lab, its operations and to learn about what people do within the lab. I do expect for week 2 to be more challenging and enlightening, but I am ready for any challenge that I will face this coming week.
During lab, I learned about some of the functionalities of biosensors and how RNA acts like an indicator towards certain molecules like DFHBI. Through various papers that I was assigned to read and understand, I have learned about riboswitches, their functions and how they are related to my work. I can not wait for what I’ll learn and do in week 2 and to take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity I have been given!
