Hellooo! This past week (6/6-6/10) was my first week with my mentor Tessa Crosby. I was initially worried about not meeting certain expectations or lack thereof when it came to understanding my Mentor’s project. The fear of messing up diminished after a couple of days of sticking by my mentor’s side as well as familiarizing myself with both the lab and protocols made by her. I feel that as an anxious intern, it can be somewhat relieving to do some reading on your own time (research papers your mentor may assign to you).
My project for this summer is to create conjugation systems for engineering microbes and promoting bioremediation through the spread of bphC Dioxygenase Activity; in summary, we are essentially using a bacteria’s ability to conjugate with other bacteria (transfer of genetic material from one bacteria to another-through its conjugation pilis) and test whether the bphC gene is present within its colonies. This could become a breakthrough in terms of using bioremediation within our waters (would make it both affordable and eco-friendly).
Nice to see all those Petri dishes, and looks like you are doing a lot of reading too! Tessa is keeping you busy, eh? Thank you for sharing!