My past two weeks in Fred Hutch had been a really exciting and inspiring experience. Not only did we learn new science concepts around cancer and perform lab activities, but we had also been given the opportunity to meet amazing people and to listen to what actual scientists’ lives are like. As an individual who didn’t know what to do in the future at all, talking to people (especially listening to Dr. Raabya’s lecture and talking to an undergraduate student in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program) who already experienced the way I am currently walking was extremely helpful to reassess my present status and plan for the future path.
Among the numerous science concepts we have been taught, the most mind-blowing thing I learned was “CRISPR”. CRISPR is an acronym of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. The main function of CRISPR is by using Cas9 and guide-RNA, scientists can cut the DNA and make a mutation or disable a gene of interest. The more fascinating fact is how scientists can make a specific mutation on single base pair of the gene by attaching another protein on Cas9 and based on that this technology may cure monogenic diseases (diseases caused by a mutation on single gene) such as Sickle Cell Disease, Cystic Fibrosis and more. We had an opportunity to execute CRISPR where we cut the BRCA1 gene (the gene responsible to suppress breast cancer) and run through gel to examine whether the cut was made as expected.
In spite of all of those awesome lectures and labs, my biggest takeaway in this program is new friends. All the people I met have always been so nice and have many aspects that I could learn from them. I appreciate all of the effort and time everybody had put in this program and the openness of the community. If any of the students who are interested in this program I would strongly recommend this program to you. It’s been really fun being part of this program! Thank you guys! Thank you Fred Hutch!
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