Taylor Brown, Summer 2014, Blog Post 1

BLOG 1:

Hello Readers!

I’m back for another Summer! But this time, instead of doing research at my lab at UCLA (visit these pages for my old blogs: http://uclamarc.blogspot.com/2013/07/taylor-brown.html; http://uclamarc.blogspot.com/2013/07/taylor-brown_9.html; http://uclamarc.blogspot.com/2013/07/taylor-brown-blog-3.html; http://uclamarc.blogspot.com/2013/08/taylor-brown-blog-4.html; ), I’ve made it to Boston, to do conduct research at MIT!!!

(saying bye to Dad at the Airport, on Father’s day)

And I’m staying in the dorm called “McCormick”…the view from my window is BEAUTIFUL!

McCormick Penthouse view!

(this is Rana; she is also from UCLA, has been in research programs with me since freshman year, and came to MIT for summer research as well)

(my handy dandy HHMI umbrella and leopard print rainboots!)

(MIT has the coolest looking buildings!)

Okay, so now for the people I’m working with this summer! I’ve temporarily joined the lab of Dr. Tyler Jacks, at the Koch Institute. The Jacks lab has truly welcomed me with open arms, and they are very helpful, patient, and are willing to answer all of my questions. Their lab is so HUGE! And the bay I am working in has 2 undergraduates (including myself; the other girl is a sophomore), 1 high school student (he’s volunteering in the lab; both of his parents are scientists and he is friends with Dr. Jacks’ daughter), 2 graduate students, a technician, and a post doc (my mentor). It’s funny because instead of going around the lab to ask a specific question (like I do at home), I just turn around and at least 3 of the people mentioned are right there ready to answer it haha. Oh, and I met Dr. Jacks briefly on my first day, and saw him again during our first lab meeting (when all of the “new faces” to the lab were introduced). He’s really nice! I plan to have a one on one meeting with him for research advice and to get to know him better, but he’s pretty busy; I’ll work it out though. There are also several summer students from MIT and elsewhere working in the lab as well; we’ve hung out a few times(:

Okay, now for the project details. So, the Jacks lab is focused on effectively modeling cancer (primarily lung cancer) in the mouse to characterize the events that are important in tumor initiation and progression. They have previously determined that circadian rhythm disruption can accelerate lung cancer. My project this summer is focused on determining the effects of mutations in circadian rhythm genes (specifically the cryptochrome genes CRY1 and CRY2) on cancer cell growth and transformation. Lately, I’ve been doing the same things I’ve done at home: viral transfection, TC, and western blots. However, I did get to “sack” a mouse and remove the lungs for histology. I have also been trained a bit on Immunohistochemistry and Attractene viral transfection. In my down time, I watch other people do experiments and take notes, read papers, work on my final paper for the program, study for the GRE, and I have also started picking the brains of the Cancer Immunologists in the lab (since I believe this is the type of program I want to apply to for graduate school). And yes, I do go into lab pretty much everyday (including Saturday and Sunday), in case you wondered. I hope I get to learn some more techniques that I haven’t brushed upon in my lab at home, but only time will tell!

Oh, and the lab likes to have social events! There are “social hours” every Friday at 5, and my lab had a BBQ at my mentor’s house (which was awesome; the way the house was built was very interesting/different). There, we watched the Portugal vs USA world cup game (we were all shocked and disappointed about that last minute goal by Portugal). And the entire Koch Institute was invited into the auditorium to watch the USA vs Germany game; there were so many people! And on August 1st, we are supposed to have our “lab outing”…which involves running around Boston in costumes (last year my group dressed up in Hello Kitty apparel found on http://web.mit.edu/jacks-lab/lab_fun_pages/LabOuting2012.html ). Can’t wait to see what the theme is this year!

Alright guys, that’s all for now! Thanks for reading! I’ll write again soon!!! (:

-Taylor