As of now, my main focus is still on training under a senior
PhD student, and assisting him on his project, which is closely related to my
own with regards to laboratory techniques (qPCR, gel-electrophoresis, Bio-Plex
Assay). This week, I have been assisting with four primer pair verification
utilizing qPCR and gel-electrophoresis. My central responsibility (for now)
is primer design for the CSF2 (colony stimulating factor-2) and CSF3 gene. The
proteins encoded by these genes control the life-cycle of granulocytes and
macrophages. It is believed that the overexpression of these genes is positively
correlated with the low chronic inflammation found in visceral adipose tissue
of obese patients. Since many genes have more than one transcript variants, the
process of primer design includes reference to peer-reviewed literature to
determine the most common transcript variants of each gene present in adipose
tissue.
The most important discovery I have made this week is to be patient. A
month ago, I would have never guessed that I would still be under training now.
I am hopeful that just a little later, I will start handling my very own tissue
samples, samples that will have my name on it. Overall, it has been a wonderful
and a tremendously humbling experience working with scientists and students who
have more experience than I.
