A Taste of Bioengineering

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 say that this is the most enjoyable module, particularly because I couldn't come up with any novel research ideas. Audri and I struggled so much with coming up with an idea for our proposal. Sometimes we would have an idea that we like, but the idea just didn't seem like it is a feasible study that can be accomplished within two years. After reading many, many, many research papers, we finally decided to work on a project that targets aneuploidy in cancer. I never imagined that I would enjoy reading long research papers, but as I was doing the research for our proposal, I found myself eagerly searching for more papers to read on aneuploidy and cancer. In addition, since I am a quiet person, I disliked presenting in front of people, but this time I actually felt kind of excited about our research proposal presentation. This is probably because I am eager to tell people about the research idea that Audri and I are both very interested in and have spent so much time on. I would also like to say that the Comm Lab meeting also really helped our presentation in that we received a lot of helpful feedback on improving the way we present and our Powerpoint slides. Furthermore, the feedback that I got from Noreen on my journal club presentation also helped me improve my presentation skill. Even more, I really enjoyed listening to all the research proposal presentations that my peers made. I am really impressed and amazed of all the novel research ideas that they came up with. 

At the end, I can definitely agree with the previous 20.109 students that Module 3 is the most interesting and fun module. I really appreciate how the faculty members designed this class so that we ended with a module where we make novel creations. Overall, 20.109 has been a really enjoyable class and I have learned so much about biological engineering, including all the different research techniques that are used in lab. Although Module 3 is my favorite, all the modules have gotten me closer to become a bio-engineer and a scientist in general. 

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