Re-Learning to Think
Hello! My name is Mrinalini (and no, it does not rhyme with fettuccini!), and I am one of the 22 Howard Hughes Research fellows. I have been most graciously accepted by Dr. Cory Adamson’s lab, the Molecular Neuro-Oncology Lab here at Duke. I feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity to be working under such nurturing guidance, especially as I have never actually researched in a lab before. In fact, all I previously had to base my imaginations of lab research on were my Organic Chemistry labs from last year. Thus, I had always thought that Orgo labs represented a microcosm of the larger world of research. But I’m beginning to realize now the discrepancies that exist between the two. My chemistry labs were always carefully controlled experiments with detailed methodologies and clearly established results that had been verified hundreds of times. But the world of research and the natural world itself are much more unpredictable. Experiments are performed precisely because we don’t know what the results will be. And not knowing exactly what to expect is what makes research so exciting.
While all scientists are defined by their spirit of inquiry into the unknown, the glimpse I have had into the world of research this last week is already showing me the disparity between raw inquiry and the ability to harness this into a carefully designed experiment. How are research questions translated into experiments? Furthermore, how are these experiments then translated back into an applicable therapy? Since my lab works with neuro-oncology research, most experiments have to be performed in isolation from their natural context of the brain. Tumor cells must be experimented on first in in vitro and in vivo with lab rats and mice, before they can be tested in actual clinical trials. Dr. Adamson explained that of the successful lab experiments, only about 1 in 1,000,000 in vitro experiments and 1 in 1,000 in vivo experiments actually translate into clinical success. With such daunting odds, how do scientists decide how to model the inimitable brain?
My most concrete goal for the summer is to learn the lab techniques involved in growing a cell line, as this is an integral part of my project for the summer. (This, I feel, is likely to be easier said than done—I once accidently killed my pet hermit crabs, the hardiest of all my pets.) On a slightly broader scale, I wish to understand the steps involved in implementing a research project such as working out the details of the methodology, ordering reagents, and performing statistical analysis on data. On a very idealistic level, I hope to understand the methodology of thought employed by scientists in approaching their research. How do scientists harmonize the systematic thinking that is essential to the very nature of science with the ingenuity, creativity, and elasticity of mind that is imperative for progress?
This summer, I am entering for the first time into the world of research and inquiry—the world of the unknown. I hope to emerge at the end of eight weeks feeling very much a part of this world, learning to feel comfortable while flitting the boundary between the known and the unknown.
