20.109(S18) Class blog

I think I speak for the majority of BE students and students in general when I say that hearing Professor Belcher's lecture about virus-based batteries was absolutely mind-blowing. I think throughout my entire time at MIT, it took learning that crazy research like this was happening in BE for me to get a better sense of what BE actually is: it's using biology and natural processes and engineering them to solve a problem. It was completely refreshing to hear about an application of biology that didn't exactly relate to healthcare, and since then I've really started thinking about biology and biological engineering in a different light. I'd say one of my favorite parts of the module was learning about using a TEM. Just being in the same room as that monster of a device was pretty intimidating, but I'm so glad I got the opportunity to at least see how it's operated and begin to understand a different type of microscopy that's probably difficult to get exp

I was initially worried after reading the introduction of Mod 3. I didn't necessarily understand what was going on at first and I did not want to work with batteries as I thought this was not what I signed up for. However, as time went on and we continued to learn what was going on, this was a really fun module. I genuinely enjoyed working on the lab, seeing the TEM results, and constructing our batteries. To think we can use our skills as biological engineers to make batteries is quite interesting. Also, the fact that the paper is roughly 3 papers makes it so much easier to do. Our presentations were also really interesting and I really like all of the ideas that I've heard from my peers. It really taught me that we're not that far away from writing our own papers in the future and coming up with ideas for research projects. Overall, 20.109 has equipped me with the essentials to be a biological engineer but most importantly, how to communicate with others in our field.

The research proposal assignment start out as fairly intimidating.  Since 20.109 is my first introduction to biological engineering, I've appreciated being told exactly what to do.  To be tasked with crafting a research project that solves a biological problem, is original, and creative sounded like a lofty goal.  However, the more papers I read, the more I realized the real challenge was not having to come up with one idea, is was having too many ideas/options.  Even after Masrur and I had decided upon a pathway to target, there are so many diseases that the pathway is involved in that we then had to choose the most compelling disease to focus on.  Since we spent so much time deciding upon what exactly we were studying, we left little time for ourselves to define the research aim and detail the methods.  Overall, though, the project was really interesting and engaging.  I even found myself disappointed that the proposal wasn't real and that I wouldn't actually be able to o

Different from Module 1 and Module 2, Module 3 is less molecular biology focused and not directly related to medicine. At the beginning of Module 3, I thought that I would enjoy this module less as it seemed less relevant to my primary interest in medicine and cancer research. However, I was wrong. I truly enjoyed this module, from TEM to making batteries, from brainstorming research ideas to presenting our research proposal. It was my second time seeing TEM samples, but it was just as fascinating as the first time. The phage nanowires were intertwined with evenly distributed gold nanoparticles, and the gold atomic planes were so regular and amazingly beautiful. On the last day of Module 3, it was so exciting to see batteries being made, and to light up LEDs using batteries with the cathodes we made! The unimaginable beauty in the order, simplicity, and complexity of nature, from atoms to nanoparticles, from proteins to cells to organisms, is what drew me to biology in the

As I started writing this blog post I realized it is my last assignment for this class which made me really happy. 20.109 has been quite the journey. It is perhaps the most difficult class I've taken at MIT, but it is also perhaps the most rewarding. It takes up a lot of time and dedication. However, you become very invested in the work as a result. For example, this research proposal actually turned out to be quite a bit of fun. After the journal club presentation, I was feeling a little less confident in my presentation skills. My feelings could accurately be described by the following meme, However, getting to design a research idea with a partner was a lot of fun. We got to be very creative in our design and idea, and cycled through a bunch of other less feasible ideas before we came to the one that we ended up doing. Brainstorming was perhaps the best part. Another great aspect about it was that, by the time we finished 20.109, it actually feels like we have the skills t

Although there were some engineering aspects to Module 1 (identifying novel ligands with SMM) and Module 2, I didn't really feel like the things I was doing in our biological engineering lab was very different from what I usually do in a pure biology lab. However, in this module, I finally felt like I was doing what a bioengineer would do. We got to build a battery out of phage and we came up with a novel research proposal of our own. I felt a sense of accomplishment when I saw that the battery we made was able to power a small light bulb. I never imagined that phages can be used to create something as useful as a battery. Because of the novelty and uniqueness of this module, I really enjoyed all the experiments we did in lab and I felt that I have learned so much in lectures. On top of that, all the demonstrations that Professor Belcher did in class made this module even more interesting and fun.  As for the research proposal, at first I couldn't understand why people would

The presentation went well. I think it was super helpful to fake present to classmates and instructors. Getting feedback from people who didn't know very much about our topic was really important for overcoming the bias of information. That’s when you know more than your audience and because of this assume a certain level of literacy with your topic that your audience doesn’t necessarily have. We practiced a lot to different people and I think that paid off and turned a presentation that was initially inscrutable and complex to something that was logical and understandable. 

We're almost done! This semester has been quite a rollercoaster, but I've learned a lot. I really enjoyed the class and it gave me more perspective on what Course 20 is actually all about. Albeit we were warned at the beginning of the semester, I was still shocked at the amount of writing, we have had to do. They were all very good learning experience to have before we go off into the world and write real papers or pitch our billion dollar idea about malaria drug delivery. This class had a lot of life lessons to teach me, when it came to failed experiments and cool machines. Who knew one could struggle so much with pipetting, lab math, and general functionality in lab. With the research proposal, I realized that I like coming up with experiments and projects, however, I still don't know if I want to conduct the experiments. Graduate school is now more on my radar as a result or sell out to consulting... I really admire people who can come with novel ideas aka Professor An

As I walked out of the room after research proposal presentations, I breathed a sigh of relief. That morning I was frantically practicing our presentation and trying to keep within the time limit (which we didn't end up doing during the actual presentation but that's another story). Nova and I ran to the student center as we realized that we needed a printed copy of our slides (and plus we wanted them in color). As we got to the presentation room my heart was racing (1. because I'm extremely out of shape 2. because I'm not the biggest fan of presentations that are worth 20% of my grade). Thoughts: Before: I struggle to pay attention to any presentations because all I can think about is remembering what I have to say about microtubules and paclitaxel and TGFBI (words I never want to hear again). I grow increasingly worried as I realize that Alzheimer's is a popular topic I look over at Nova with a concerned look every two seconds because everybody else's

20.109 is hands down the best class I have taken at MIT so far.  While in other classes we have learned very specific skills/subjects: thermodynamics, genetics, Matlab, I feel that 20.109 has instilled in me a broad set of skills that I will utilize throughout my academics and beyond. 20.109 does a great job of showcasing multiple aspects of biological engineering in a quick but thorough way. Mod 1 exhibited many wet lab techniques that I had not done before like SMM, DSF, and SDS-PAGE. We were also pushed to explore other possible assays during the data summary, which taught me how to research protocols and think critically about experiments. Overall, this Mod set a really solid ground work for the rest of 109. Mod 2 was important to me for two reasons: R and the Research Article. This summer, I will be researching at the Weill Cornell neurosurgery dept to analyze life expectancy and outcomes of thrombectomy cases. I’ll be using a few giant databases to do

There’s so much to learn, and that’s something I learned in MOD 3. We had such a hard time choosing a topic for the research proposal. And once we found a good question to answer it was so hard to figure out how we were going to do it!! But I think that the research proposal helped me learn to work under a lot of stress and having a lot of things to do. I had so many things this week, including 2 exams and a production week for a dance show I was in, which meant that my days were extremely busy. To get everything done, I had to learn to be efficient (and run on very little sleep). Here is a picture of me every single day this week:  Shoutout to Izumi for pipetting when I was too shaky to do it :(  I'm really happy that the research report is over (now onto the mini-report). It was really a roller coaster of emotions and ideas. Shoutout to Izumi for carrying me through this week. I really could not have gotten through this week without her support.