BE 20.109(S20) Class blog

Today was the last lecture of 20.109, and as I signed off the Zoom call, I felt a little flutter of sadness. 20.109 presented a unique dynamic that I'd never had in a class before. I'd never had to spend 5 hours a day in class for a single course, or had to present my own novel ideas and be subjected to the interrogations of my classmates or instructors, or write my own research article draft. I learned a bunch of new skills in 20.109, but the following were the ones that will stick with me the most. 1. Schematics - I learned to LOVE making schematics. So much so, in fact, that I am strongly considering buying a BioRender subscription, which is something I usually avoid at all costs. There's something so satisfying about generating your own schematics for presentations and controlling every aspect of the story the image tells. I love coordinating the colors and paring the experimental details down to what is absolutely necessary to tell the story. 2. Effective prese

The final blog post has come upon us and, unsurprisingly, I still have little to no idea what to actually write about. I suppose a sort of reflection on the class as a whole would be appropriate? Hmmm, but I can also imagine that thing's might get a bit repetitive given that we have already had our feedback session. What to do, what to do? -Ok bet, let's go with that. At first, I wasn't particularly looking forward to 109; those 15 units with 2 4-hr lab blocks absolutely weren't looking like the move. But having gone through the experience, 109 gets the distinction of being one of the few class experiences I would say that I enjoyed: not hated, like 8.01, not more or less apathetic towards, like 6.0001/2, but actually enjoyed. Though those chunks did cut into my availability for lab research, I have received some great benefits from the class, the most helpful of which has been from its written CI-M aspects. Though I have given presentations and journal clubs in th

Jesus H Christ, I am so tired. Objectively, no human has ever been as tired as me. Not one. Not even Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street when she's staying up for days to not get murdered by Freddy Krueger. Not even that other lady from Nightmare on Elm Street when she's staying up for days to not get murdered by Freddy Krueger. On the positive side, I am not staying up for days to not get murdered by Freddy Krueger. In fact, the lab report keeping me up is quite docile compared to him. Even quite docile compared to many of the assignments in 20.109. It's a summary of a semester's research that accomplished a little less than the whole of Mod1. So, if there's one thing I can be grateful for about 20.109, its that it makes other classes look easy.

I can't believe that today was the last day of classes.  It feels like just yesterday we were sent home from college, and time has stopped ever since.  April absolutely flew bye.  I am very proud to have completed all of the assignments and projects in 20.109 that seemed daunting at the beginning of the semester.  Although, I have mixed feelings about sophomore year coming to a close.  On the one hand, I am very proud of what I have accomplished in my first two years at MIT.  I have learned a lot and am interested in the material that we learn, I have gotten to know an amazing group of friends and peers, and I have participated in fascinating research, both in and out of the classroom.  Because I have loved my first to years of college so much, I am also sad to say that I am half-way through college.  I feel like freshman and sophomore year went by so quickly, and am nervous that junior and senior year will feel equally fast. I'm not sure what my life will look like in 2 more y

Dear Jenny, I’m not really sure what you were thinking when you agreed to be lab partners with me. You knew what my work habits (or lack thereof) were like from 20.110. Yet, you still agreed to be lab partners with me, and for that, I’m forever grateful. I don’t think I could have gotten through this class without you. You dealt with my time difference (so you stayed up 3 hours later than usual), my endless stream of dumb science puns/jokes, and bufoonery. You also took the initiative to get started on the assignments, and that motivated me to try to do the same since I didn’t want to let you (or your grade) down (sorry if I did so anyways, but bless PNR). Anyways, I’m writing this to you on the 109 blogs because I think you deserve to be recognized for all your hard work! Also, here are some of my favorite exchanges with you on Facebook Messenger (I’m pretty sure there was a lot of other great moments on calls, but they’re not recorded*) Your lab partner, Kevin P.S. Can you let me

20.109 was super fun, despite corona!!! I felt like I learned more about what biological engineering was and got an insight into what research in this field entails. Being able to work with new and innovative research techniques was really fun and rewarding. I felt like I learned the biology behind many commonly used lab techniques and was able to add to my toolbox of skills for my professional career. Mod 1: Long hours in the lab and constantly being last in class with Emily was a struggle but manageable because of the great faculty!! I really liked being able to both learn the theory and actually doing the science. It was also cool to see the science we were learning in 7.05 overlapping with what we were doing in 20.109, especially the protein purification section of the module. (My fav module) Mod 2: R is my frenemy, however, I lowkey appreciate its ability. I was able to actually know what RNA sequencing really was. Though run code on R was super frustrating, finally being

Hello world. As I stand here about twenty feet from the summit, a sense of accomplishment washes over me. It's an undertaking few have conquered. Still, at the same time I feel a sense of dread. I made it here, but what about the trip on the way down? Supplies are lower than expected, the crew is tired, and the nights have been getting longer and longer. There's a small chance we might not even have enough oxygen for the next two days, I haven't had the chance to do the math. Why are we even up here? What hubris drove us to try to conquer this majesty of nature? What were we looking for? Looking out across the broken and jagged Himalayas, I feel contemplative. It's about 6:34 am, and the darkness is starting to lift. Wind is strong, but no snowfall. We dug ourselves a little crevasse to shield ourselves from the wind, and we're on the east side of the mountain. 2 more minutes till sunrise. It was a difficult trip up. It was lonely and sad and cold and

Looking back at the semester, it definitely will be one to remember. I am really grateful at how accommodating the 20.109 staff has been, and I feel like I still gained a ton from this class even though we were not able to do the lab portion of in person. I truly enjoyed the three modules and I found that each one was interesting and taught me techniques and skills that will be applicable to future work. I loved hearing everyone’s research proposals and I am glad that everyone remained invested in the class, despite it being through zoom, which made the presentations a lot more interesting. I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to hopefully seeing everyone in the fall.

One positive aspect of doing school from home has been being able to bring my dogs to school with me. I never thought I would see the day when I could bring my dogs to lab, but the whole second half of the semester, my dogs have learned a ton about using R studio, RNA seq, qPCR, FACS, etc. Having my dogs in the lab has been probably the only silver lining to the work from home situation, but I am grateful for this opportunity. Last semester, I remember wishing my parents would let me bring one of my dogs to MIT to hang out with me and sit in on lectures. Little did I know that would become a reality the following semester.  Since bringing the dogs to school, I have actually learned a lot about their study habits: Molly (the white and tan dog) is definitely the ADHD dog. She is good at sitting in on lecture and focusing as long as there is nothing else going on at the house. Otherwise she just whines until I dismiss her. Moxy (the white and black dog) is really the best at just sn

It's hard to believe that sophomore year is essentially over. These past several weeks have especially been very odd and I think I've still had a weird time processing how much things have changed (and will change) with our MIT education. Moving 109 to an online format is no easy task, HUGE shoutout to all the instructors and professors for being so on top of your shtuff and doing lots of the heavy lifting in our transition to ZoomU. Also big shoutout to Becky for answering my 100 emails <33333 I just turned in my mini report, and now I'm writing my absolute final assignment of this class (dis blog). It feels WEIRD. When did I ever NOT have assignments for 109? It just became such a constant part of my weekly routine that now that I won't have figures or outlines due, I won't know how to act.  I also wanted to reflect a bit on our proposal presentations because I thought they were super super cool. I know that Karenna and I had a really great time reading

Well, friends, we have finally made it to the end. There were moments when I genuinely didn't think I would make it, due to my laziness alone, but amplified by getting evicted from campus. I really had no idea how this class could be pulled off in a remote format, but I can now say that it actually adapted far better than my other classes. I can say that because I still feel like a part of this class, this community, and I am sad seeing it come to an end. The Mini Report for Module 3 is just one example of this class banding together to continue our lab education without actually being in a lab. Though we weren't able to run any of the experiments ourselves, we were still able to analyze data and come to reasonable conclusions, just as we would be doing for other researchers' data. I am far more confident in my abilities as a scientist and researcher after these 3 Modules: 1 fully in-person, 1 half-remote, and 1 fully remote. I developed skills I never knew I may need, but

I think this semester is one that is always going to be singularly, hopefully at least, unique. I certainly hope that I will look back one day from the far far future and realize how interesting I am and we are to have lived through a piece of history that will undoubtedly show up in a book. As I am writing this, almost everything has wrapped up for the semester and I'm still taken aback by how different everything is currently to what I had imagined. For someone who likes to stringently roadmap and plan things, pandemics are somewhat troublesome, mildly speaking of course. It's not exactly like I could've went back to January 2020 me and told myself to just set aside a few months period(as of now) wherein the world will turn upside down. So yes, we are no longer on campus, we truly have become Zoomers, my Brass Rat came by mail, and I haven't had a normal interaction with people outside of my family in about two months -- the order and importance of these events are up

The end of this class feels like there's still unfinished business, but I feel like that is the inevitable outcome of a lab class going remote. Module 3 seemed like a really interesting experiment to perform in person, so I'm definitely a little bummed that we could only experience it virtually with different data analysis platforms. Overall though, 20.109 was one of the most relevant and interesting classes I have taken at MIT. It was my first taste of course 20 lab classes, and I was excited that some of the techniques we used in lab were things I had done before in internships and UROPs. It makes the work we do seem so much more relevant to my future endeavors in research. Moreover, I have never done this much scientific writing before, and it was rewarding to get so much feedback from the BE Comm Lab and the professors. Thank you all for an enjoyable semester and for working so hard to convert the class to an online format in a very small period of time.

I can’t believe that the semester is ending! It’s gone by so quickly! Reflecting on my 20.109 experience, I feel that I’ve definitely learned a lot not only about different bioengineering techniques, but also about scientific writing and presentations. I’m sad that we weren’t able to carry out the lab experiments for Mod 2 and 3, but glad that we were able to make the most out of the situation by still analyzing the data and getting a sense of the protocols. One part of the 20.109 experience I really enjoyed was working on the research proposal. It was initially really difficult for my partner and I to come up with a “novel” research idea; we didn’t even know where to start! I ended up just choosing a very broad research area, and started reading papers, especially reviews, to identify knowledge gaps. I learned a lot of cool things through this process, and I do think it helped us finally come up with a set of ideas. Having a lab partner was really helpful for this process, a

Currently standing in mid-May and looking back at the semester, it's hard to believe that it's almost over. 20.109 is the most unique class I've taken so far, owing to the combination of laboratory activities and written/verbal communication exercises. I personally have grown as a science communicator through 20.109. I realized the value and effort necessary to write different types of scientific material accessible to many different audiences. I also gained a new sense of appreciation for storytelling. Every data set has a story within it and I learned that having pretty data isn't enough without a cohesive message to tie it together and convince others (including reviewers!) why they should care. Through 20.109, I feel ready to apply these skills to my own research. 

Well, this is the end to a new beginning.        I would like to express my gratitude to the 20.109 teachers, staff, and TA's. You all were so helpful for the major assignments and during the unexpected transition to zoom lectures. You all make a great team. Overall, this class challenged me and oftentimes took me out of my comfort zone with the very technical presentations and writing. It is a shame that we were limited on our lab time due to events out of our control, but I am glad that we made the most of the situation. The MOD3 research proposal was interesting and made me realize how tedious it is to get a scientific proposal going and nevertheless finding the appropriate funding.      As much as I improved from the great feedback from the staff, my peers also enriched my experience and growth in this classroom. Hearing presentations, receiving peer feedback, and working alongside my partner helped me improve my presentation and writing skills.      From everything that I w

My lab partner and I just submitted the Mod3 mini-report, finishing out our last assignment for 20.109. It was a strangely anti-climactic end to the semester. "So we're done.. ?," we told each other over Zoom. Quarantine began so abruptly that it feels as if college has been put on hold as opposed to moving online. When I think about going back to campus, I envision the same dorm room and classrooms I left in March. It’s weird to think that I’m fully wrapping up and moving on from my spring classes (*knock on wood*, I’d still like to pass). The mini-report itself was graciously short and straightforward. The words “data summary” gave me flashbacks to the Saturday spent working in office hours on the Mod1 data summary. I remember watching the sun move across the sky and set and then having a follow-up meeting later that night. This was significantly easier. While most of that is due to the assignment itself, I’d like to think that I’ve also become a better scientifi

Coming up with a research article that both I and my lab partner found interesting was a mission (Miami slang for "exasperation especially referring to matters of time"). I, having decided that being an Ob-Gyn is my ultimate career goal, cared to identify only research related to female reproductive health. My lab partner, who has aspirations outside of clinical work, had many more up-and-coming proposals and we tried to meet each other halfway. We spent many hours on zoom. We read more papers than I ever thought I could read. We were frequently heartbroken to find our research idea had already been taken, by some man in the 1980s. She shared this meme with me which perfectly expressed our emotions.  We felt we knew nothing. It was hard to settle down but we did after we decided to stop reading literature because the well was too deep and we were never going to reach the bottom. I guess people dedicate their whole PhDs to studying the field and we spent two weeks. 🎶Fra

Dear blog, So we just gave our research proposal presentation, and officially had the last class of 20.109!!! ☆☆☆ Sarah and I presented an antigen-based "pregnancy test" for COVID19 .  I'm super glad this assignment gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about COVID. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the current crisis especially in terms of how limited diagnoses are contributing to the situation, and how much work  it will take to curb it.  All the papers we were reading also came out super recently; for example I would be reading a paper and then see that it came out literally yesterday ! I've never studied something so relevant and standing right on the frontier of science . Every day researchers are putting out new information to share with the world. Through this assignment I also learned a lot about research groups on campus, and heard from a lot of MIT experts on diagnostics and COVID efforts which was super cool. It was also really fu

During quarantine, I've found it really easy to half-do all my class. I half-attend lecture, I half-finish the homework, I half-understand the material. It's really hard to maintain accountability when everything is facilitated through a screen and there's so much more to be distracted by. But something like this research proposal presentation is something you can't just half-do. It's hard to even start making a presentation about something if you haven't done the sufficient background research for it. Especially in a project where we were tasked of coming up with detailed project mechanisms, understanding the basic biological engineering concepts behind is is crucial to creating a feasible idea. Overall, I have really enjoyed working on it and it has really taken me out of this slump of not caring about much going on around me I attached a picture of my dog just for fun.