Tag: Start-ups

Today was rather relaxing.  In the morning I helped prep some SEC samples and I helped clean the lab.  Cleaning the lab didn’t take as long as I expected, and was surprisingly relaxing.  This afternoon I learned about chemical engineering, and messed around with dry ice.

I’m very excited to see what will happen tomorrow, but I also wish the program was longer.  So far I have really enjoyed work experiencing at Lindy Biosciences.  I have learned a lot about science and product development, as well as the business aspects of the start-up.

Today, I finally got to try Microglassifying a protein.  I mocroglassified ovalbumin, a protein found in eggs.  It was really cool, but a little stressful.  Afterwards I was able to look at the microglassified protein under a microscope.

I also found out why teachers tell you to never measure liquids with a beaker or flask.  One of the large flasks in the lab (it was a 4 liter flask) had completely wrong volume lines.  Although the 2000ml mark was correct, the following lines were completely wrong.  Overall today was very exciting and filled with new experiences.

Today was pretty exciting.  I did more UV spectroscopy as well as gas spectroscopy.  I also learned about the columns used in size exclusion chromatography and how the different dimensions (length and width) affect the resolution and length of time it takes to analyze a sample.  I really enjoyed practicing the things I learned previously and learning new information about the equipment in the lab.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first week at Lindy Biosciences.  I have really enjoyed learning about all the different pieces of equipment and processes that are used in their lab.  I also really like learning about the business and marketing side of research.  Even though there are not many people at the company, I feel like I have been able to learn a lot about all the different parts of start-up companies as well as product development.

This morning a pipette vender came and talked about the benefits of the pipette tips he was selling.  It was very interesting to hear about all the technology that goes into the basic lab equipment that scientists use every day.  Later today I rehydrated the ovalbumin I previously microglass-ified and analyzed it with UV spectroscopy and prepared it for size-exclusion chromatography.  Although I did not do much today, at least compared to yesterday, I enjoyed being able to practice UV spectroscopy and learning about size-exclusion chromatography.

Today was the first day of the work experience program.  I went to Lindy Biosciences, a development-stage protein therapeutic formulations company, located in the Research Triangle Park.  This company is a two year old start up with novel Microglassification^TM technology.

While Microglassification is a very long and complex word, their technology involves dehydrating proteins into a stable bead shaped solid.  Proteins normally contain a large quantality of water which increases their weight. Microglassification removes much of this water resulting in a fine power.

Normally during drug delivery large amounts of proteins require delivery through an IV; however, Microglassification allows solid protein “balls” to be injected with a needle subcutaneously (under the skin).  This would allow patients to receive medicine as a quick shot instead of a long IV treatment.

After only two years, Lindy Biosciences have an impressive list of clients, containing some of the top pharmaceutical companies.  I can’t wait to continue my internship and get to help in their lab tomorrow.

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