Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Programs

Ways not to use a pipette...

Posted by Kim Le on 2009-06-14 - no comments

In my interview with the PI, he told me that his objective was to find out how processes work and the mechanisms that drive those processes. I suppose my goal is comparable to his. The lab is one crazy, wild, sometimes quiet, sometimes intense entity and you have to know how to find your niche. Assimilate while bringing in something unique because while the grad students and techs are incredibly intelligent persons, they do not know everything. That is encouraging for us neophytes. I don't expect these two months to be hard--I know they are hard. I want to further understand the zebrafish and how to map genetic markers and not mis-measure with a pipette. Common sense, in my personal opinion, is something invaluble that is often (unintentionally) bypassed in our minds when we perform certain actions. So for this summer, I want to really gain independence and courage in an intimidating atmosphere by learning to do things my own (hopefully efficient) way. "Just be consistent," my mentor told me. But you have to find that "click" before you carry on with it and not be afraid to use it.

Tagged: expectations

My Research with Zebrafish!

Posted by Kim Le on 2009-06-12 - no comments

0 Comments

My first few days with Dr. Bagnat's team of grad students and post-docs have been difficult but promising. My mentors there are among some of the most patient people I have ever met. Coming in contact with some very impressive equipments was exciting--expecially the beast that is the negative-81-degree-C freezer used to store compounds for long periods of time. There is a large fish room for breeding as well. Tanks are stacked to the ceiling and leave very little room for maneuvering. I got to watch fish mate (that's right!) and see how egg collection worked. Things have been a bit slow because it is the first week. It's a good feeling to be able to help out in any small way. It's fun to listen to the grads and techs talk about their work or what they want to do in a few years or just this weekend. I found out how to pronounce my PI's name (it's French) and that was a plus! Hopefully, next week will be better once we figure out how to use databases to map genes--come on, technology!

me at a station