One course (or module, as they call it here) I am taking is a research credit. I have been placed in a laboratory that studies gene regulation and biomarkers in cancer progression, specifically in breast cancer and colon cancer. Today was the first day that I spent time in lab!
I am currently shadowing one of the graduation students in the lab to learn some new techniques, but eventually I will be running some experiments on my own. Today I looked at cells he has been growing under a microscope, and he showed me how to "seed" cell cultures. This is when you transfer the cells to a new plate with more nutrients so that they have more room to grow. I think this is a good experience for me since I work in the biochemistry lab back at Swarthmore, and I am considering graduate studies in biochemistry or pharmacology.
A graduate science degree is mainly research though, and I am not sure if that is what I want to focus on. However, I think being in another laboratory that focuses on a different subject will help me decide if that path is right for me!
