Srinath V.

The Fred Hutch Explorer’s program was definitely not what I expected. I came into this program thinking, “OMG Cancer Research!! This is serious stuff. We NEED to lock in and save people’s lives”. That was definitely not the case. In fact, Fred Hutch was so vibrant and a place that just radiated hope. I felt empowered surrounded by lifelong scientists and engineers and lab technicians all committed to improving the outcomes for cancer patients. Specifically, I am going to talk about my two favorite parts of the program, labwork and lectures/tours.

Labwork

We got to work in the lab almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. This is definitely the most awesome part of the experience. We had two amazing TA’s, Shayan and Alex who taught us about the lab and then basically let us follow the procedure. The TA’s and everyone were so helping and always helped us make the best of our experience. Even when we messed up A LOT. One specific lab that we did was the CRISPR Lab. In this lab we learned about the discovery and process of the CAS 9 protein which basically edits the DNA using a guide RNA and is instrumental in cancer research treatments. We then did this super cool process which was the gel electrophoresis. A current ran through the gel which moved the samples to let us analyze the cuts made by the CAS 9 protein based on how far parts of the sample traveled. The best part of the overall lab experience was the Micropipette. I like to think of it as the real lab stuff. This is the tool that I basically saw in every scientist photo, and it made me feel like a real scientist doing important cancer research. Overall, I loved the lab experience, and it really helped me to understand important underlying ground concepts and protocols that are involved in the foundation of cancer research

Lectures/Tours

The lectures and the tours that accompanied them were also my favorite part of this program. The lectures were super informative and helped me and many people in my group network with real scientists. We had lectures on expanding mammography services, getting recruited by Russia for a space experiment, and the pathways to careers within Fred Hutch. We also got a tour of the Allen Institute which was super cool to see how other labs were contributing to the science community and that it was not just Fred Hutch. The lab tours were next level as we got to see half a million-dollar instruments being used to analyze proteins inside crystals. This was just the tip of the iceberg. We even visited a super confidential lab that I can’t discuss too much but it was so cool seeing the organisms under the microscope. The guest lectures and the tours had so much information and mentorship woven throughout the program and I would 100% recommend this program and if you get in, make the absolute most out of every minute because you will not get another chance like this to network with real professionals.

Scientist Injecting Worms with CRISPR edited gene

My lab desk after the CRISPR lab with the micropipette

Allen Institute Inside photo during Tour