Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

This summer was my first lab experience, and it has been chock full of experiments of all sorts. From growing U87MG brain tumor cells to sautéing shrimp to playing with dry ice, practically every day this summer has been filled with novel inquiry.

On a more serious note, I am very thankful to have had such a fulfilling experience this summer. Both my PI Dr. Adamson and my secondary mentor Chunhui were extremely supportive and patient, and carefully guided me through my research project—and for this I feel very grateful towards them. My main goal when I began this summer was to be afforded a glimpse into the world of research, and to understand better the life of a researcher. Before beginning this summer, I had only a vague idea of what it meant to be a scientist. I was always excited by the rather idealistic concept of working with the unknown and of working to expand our knowledge base—which I always perceived as the main job of scientists. And I still am very excited by this. But I think I gained a better perspective on the entire process of research—research is more than just the end stage of data analysis and inference making. This summer, I learnt to enjoy the entire process—from designing experiments to the actual meticulous experiment set-up to the data collection. I’ve gained some independence in the lab, and can perform basic techniques to keep a cell line alive on my own (my cells did prove to be more hardy than my hermit crabs in the end). I’m more confident in what I do know, but at the same time—and more importantly—I also have learnt to feel very comfortable with the fact that there is so much still unknown.

Though I do not yet feel in a position to decide if the PhD-academia track is for me, I do know that I will stay involved with research for the rest of my undergraduate career at Duke. Because I have been involved in the Howard Hughes Research Fellows program this summer, I therefore never send to know for whom the [research] bell tolls. It tolls for me.
 

The faculty seminars were one my favorite aspects of the Howard Hughes program this summer. Duke is known for both the amazing and diverse research occurring here, and also the interest professors take in sharing their passions with students—and both of these aspects definitely came through during our bi-weekly faculty lectures. From talks on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases to x-chromosome inactivation to basal membrane invasion, I was truly captivated not only by the research projects themselves, but how passionate all of the speakers were about their respective subjects. For example, Dr. Hunt Willard described how he has been working on the same large scale questions for almost thirty years now—his research so far has served to clarify and reframe his original inquiries, yet they still remain. I really admire the burning passion to answer such questions that all of the faculty who spoke to us shared.
 

Another aspect I enjoyed about the faculty talks was hearing about how they got to the position they are in today—how they made the leap from being an undergraduate to now the Principle Investigator at their labs. These stories, I felt were very relatable, as a lot of us are now in the same position that they were in back during their college years. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the faculty talks, and these are something I will miss once the Howard Hughes program is over. Next semester, I definitely plan on making an effort to attend similar faculty lectures hosted by various university channels.
 

I can’t believe we only have two weeks left of Howard Hughes! Despite the very limited amount of time we have left, I’m happy to report that my experiment is coming along quite well. I’ve finished the first trial of my experiment, and just started the second trial. The rather slow data collection stage has come to an end (at least for trial 1), and I was very excited to find that the matched our predictions for the most part!

I used to think before that research was mainly comprised of the data analysis and interpretation stage, when you actually started answering the original questions of the experiment. But I’m starting to learn now that research encompasses a lot more than just that one stage. Over the last six weeks, I’ve gotten a glimpse into the entire scientific processes—from researching the methodology to ordering reagents to performing preliminary experiments to actually collecting data. And though some parts are more tedious than others (like counting the hundreds of cells in each of about 300-400 pictures), I’m learning that I find the entire process intellectually stimulating. I mean, even when it’s the middle of the night and I’m awake measuring the neurite extensions from hundreds of little cells, I still pause to think of these cells actually growing in someone’s brain—a very mind-boggling thought!
 

Over the last few weeks, the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that nothing in research really goes according to plan. Just because something should work theoretically doesn’t mean the experiment will be successful. Results can take you by surprise, but as both my secondary mentor Chunhui and my PI Dr. Adamson have told me, the data doesn’t lie, so you then have to go back and rethink your original premises and analysis.
 

Additionally, over the last few weeks, my mentor has allowed me to be more independent with performing techniques. At the very beginning, I would just observe him perform everything, and take detailed notes. Then, I graduated to performing the techniques myself, with my mentor watching me. Now, I’m finally at the stage where I can perform some basic techniques alone—sometimes when he isn’t even in the lab. Though this independence is very nice, it can also be slightly stressful at times when things go wrong and I’m not sure how to fix them. For example, when splitting cells, before replating the cells after harvesting them, centrifuging them, and resuspending them in growth medium, I’m supposed to break up all of the cell clusters and spheroids by pipetting the cells up and down at least 20 times. Though this sounds simple enough, about two weeks ago when I was performing this technique, alone in the lab one evening, I simply could not get the clusters to break apart! I pipetted up and down almost 60 times, repeated the protocol exactly step by step, and even repeated the protocol while modifying certain steps, but no matter what, the unyielding and merciless spheroids remained intact. Eventually, I was able to break the spheroids apart to about a quarter of their original size, though I lost almost a third of the cells in the process. The next morning, I explained my woes to my mentor, who after listening to everything I tried, told me a very simple solution to my problem. I’ve had a couple experiences like this, and though frustrating at the time, in hindsight I can appreciate them for the learning opportunities they provide me with.
 

In the next two weeks, I will be working on collecting and analyzing data from the second trial of my experiment. I shall also be very busy putting together my poster. It’s so exciting to think that everything from the last six weeks will be coming together so soon!
 

This last week, I had the pleasure of hearing about everyone else’s research. It was so exciting to hear about how diverse the fields everyone is working in—from seed germination to dog cognition to Parkinson’s research, it really seems that we Howard Hughes Research Fellows are covering a very broad spectrum! As my own research is neuroscience based, I was extremely fascinated to hear about the research of others who are also working with neuroscience such as Yiling who’s learning about the connection between the motor and auditory system, and Michelle who is researching the brain’s immune response to Alzheimer’s disease.
 

On the other hand, I was also very interested in the research of those who were working with the fields of evolution, ecology, and environmental science precisely because it was so different from what I work with on a daily basis yet so very intertwined with our generation. Elizabeth’s research on the effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on zebra fish seemed very applicable to possibly influencing environmental policy regulation. Bobby’s research on speciation in Madagascar chameleons also carried large ramifications in emphasizing a possible effect of human interference with the environment. Suellen’s research on better understating the interaction between the genetic, environmental, and maternal effects that contribute to when seeds germinate will be integral to helping us understand how the ongoing climate change will affect crop growth.
 

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s presentations. I’m so awed by how passionate and accomplished everyone is within their own fields in just five weeks. I definitely can’t wait to see more about everyone’s research in the poster session!
 

Though every day is slightly different, below I’ve given a description of my typical day.

My day begins bright and early at 8:30 with a refreshing 20 minute walk to my lab, in MSRB I. I always like coming into the lab a little early. This gives me time to catch up on my emails, as well as time to work on my lab notebook. (I usually don’t have time at the end of the day to write in procedures I’ve learnt or to tape in the pictures of my cells, so I do this the next morning).
 

Once my mentor Chunhui arrives, we discuss the plan for the day, working out the most efficient order to go through the to-do list. This step is actually quite important because sometimes, certain procedures require reagents to sit for an hour or two, and it is important to plan accordingly so something else can be accomplished in the meantime.
 

Next, Chunhui and I go to CCIF (Cancer Center Isolation Facility). Our lab is working on an in vivo study with mice that have been injected with tumor cells. So, we need to go mass the 80 mice and check for tumor growth. Once we return, Chunhui usually takes care of the several cells lines our lab is working on. As the cells grow, the growth medium they’re plated in needs to be changed. Additionally, when replating the cells, we sometimes only replate a fraction of the cells to allow them to grow for a longer period of time, a procedure called splitting cells. Every cell line needs to be handled slightly differently, so I like to observe my mentor as he works to become more familiar with different cell lines.
 

Some days, my mentor also freezes down some cells to keep for future experimenting or transfects a gene of interest into a particular cell line. I’ve observed my mentor perform the latter procedure twice, and he’s promised that I can try transfecting myself next time, so I’m very excited!
 

Once my mentor is done working in the hood, it’s my turn to practice the basic techniques by replating/splitting the cell line I’m working with. Though Chunhui makes everything look very effortless and easy, it takes me almost two to three times as long to replate cells! But with practice, I’m slowly but surely getting better at this. I’ve also been practicing how to count cells—a very essential skill to learn—though I haven’t quite gotten the hang of the preparatory steps just yet.
 

Last week, Chunhui and I started running an experiment testing the migratory effects of chemoattractants on a gene of interest. Every afternoon, I check the progression of the cells’ migration by taking pictures of several spots in each petri dish. Though very time consuming and at times monotonous—I take almost 200 pictures every day—this is actually my favorite part of the day. Seeing the cells cluster around particular attractants, and seeing the changes from the day before is so exciting to me! Sometimes, I’m so excited by what I see that I take lots of extra pictures of interesting spots in the dish.
 

Usually, by the time I finish taking all of my pictures, it’s time to leave. Though, as I’ve learned first-hand, life in the lab revolves around the experiments, and some days I leave later than others. But regardless of when I leave, I always have lots to mull over as I walk home.