Trying to stay current!

Mod 2 was really interesting for me as I approached the module with a confidence that did not last long at all!  I figured that, since I have experience in cancer drug synthesis, at least some of the knowledge gained would translate.  I was correct, but only to a small extent.  I was not at all familiar with all of the genetic analysis concepts and tools/techniques we covered.  The experimental design made sense overall, but I struggled to understand the specifics of RNA-seq and qPCR.  Towards the middle of the module, I found that I was really just following protocols in lab and not really understanding how they fit into the larger motivation and goal.  It would have been much easier to stay current in everything that we did rather than backtrack, but I found that writing the research article helped (forced) me to reflect upon and understand what we did.

Aside from the basic understanding of the experiment, I also found working in R to be quite difficult.  I wish that I had a more robust introduction to the programs syntax and a preview how how we would use its functionality to further our agenda.  It was difficult to understand the instructions, understand the functions R was using, and figure out how to even input language into the program at the same time.  There were a lot of unfamiliarities at play, but we somehow made it work!

Just like Mod 1, Mod 2 flew by!  And I'm super excited about batteries & bacteriophages!  I've always thought bio-inspiration to be a super cool concept, so I can't wait to learn more.


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