Day 1: Toly Who?!

Today was a very exciting day in the lab! I started my day at around 9:30 with Jessi, the graduate student for Dr. Lindsey at NC State. We first began by learning how to use various micropipeters and proper lab procedures when dealing with bacteria. Besides wearing safety glasses and a lab coat, one of the most important safety procedures when dealing with bacteria is making sure each flask that will be reused is exposed to a flame- this is to ensure no external contamination. After learning these procedures, Jessi informed me about the project she and Dr. Lindsey have been working on: extracting Tolyporphin from cynobacteria. This project is of crucial importance because currently scientists are unaware of the various functions inside the DNA of Tolyporphin and its origins inside the cyanobacteria. To truly understand this concept, Jessi taught me how to read a cell map and design a genetic sequence that can be inserted into a bacteria. Moreover, one of the preliminary experiments today was preparing solutions of old Tolyporphin bacteria cultures and placing them into new base antibiotic solutions. This experiment was an application of the micropipeting skills Jessi taught me earlier, with a focus on precision and minimizing error. For Jessi, this procedure is important so that the bacteria in the flasks are able to continue for longer periods of time and not die out.

At around 12:00, Jessi, her friend, a post-doc at duke, and I went to go eat lunch at a nearby restaurant- the food was amazing! I remember Jessi recounting to me how most days graduate students in her lab would grab lunch here and stop at the nearby coffee shop next door.



I honestly can not thank Jessi and Dr. Lindsey enough for this amazing experience. It is truly fascinating to see all the hustle and bustle of scientists throughout the university, in the labs, and across the offices - ground breaking research really is at every corner.







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