Although my work is on the micro-scale, my lab is pretty interesting to be around. During the summer, I worked closely with Emilio (my lab mentor) on his quest to obtain a Ph.D.
I guess I should recap what we actually aimed to accomplish. Most organisms have a sophisticated regulatory system for the sensing and subsequent absorption of iron. Loads of people, especially rich Europeans (iron disorders pretty common for them), are interested in understanding more about the iron-sensing mechanism, and how it is regulated. Presently, only in vivo (mouse) models exist. So our task is to recreate an in vitro (human cell line) model for the iron-dependent regulation of hepcidin (hepcidin is the regulator of iron absorption). Although that was my main objective, I was able to learn lots of other stuff along the way, as well as help my mentor with other experiments, and learn lots about other members' stuff in lab. Anyhoo, during the beginning few weeks, as I was getting acquainted with the experiments and stuff, we got results, and I was like, "Sweet! I am getting great results!" My mentor, Emilio, and my faculty mentor Dr. Ganz, were always less enthused. I wondered why, but I slowly began to realize the results from one single experiment are not enough to convince the scientific community, so you have to be a skeptic about your own experiments. This lesson, for me had a lot more significance than face value, I guess. I became more concscious of the histoy involved in each experiment (previous results and stuff), and what's more, I found it a lot easier to think of experiments as I was performing them. It's weird, because I actually want to know the answer to a question that no one knows the answer to, but I don't mind finding out for myself--I actually enjoy it :)
I digress. Aside from lab work, I really got to know my lab mates quite well, as every week, we did something together, like a walk through the gardens, visiting the new lab (it's friggin' crazy, like "Saw" looking, but new and clean, haha), and parties where we (at least everyone else) brought homemade food. My faculty mentor, Tom Ganz, is an extremely busy guy-- running his own biomed science business, the new lab, and going out of the country to give speeches-- but almost every day he was at the lab, he would stop in to ask how I was doing, and made me feel so part of the lab. Emilio and I are really great friends now, and I seriously cannot wait to get back to UCLA!
Left: Me Right: Emilio
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