JOSE:

So much has passed by my eyes, digested by my brain, and obtained throughout this summer. These past couple of weeks, I have been fortunate enough to attend the Stanford Institutes of Medical Research where I was placed in the stem cell institute. I have never been much interested in stem cells; the subject never obtained my attention. That is until I accurately began to understand them, study them and manipulate them in order to create methods to cure genetic mutations in the genome. This summer I jumped onto a project where we attempt to use the CRISPR/CAS9 system to cleave the JAG1 mutation causing diseases like Alagille syndrome. Throughout my research I learned the best pipetting techniques to have the best possible results, and the reasons for creating polymerase chain reactions, bacteria transformations, and running electrophoresis gels. The material definitely challenged me to incorporate better research habits in order to understand different subjects of stem cells that I have never learned before, for example induced pluripotent stem cells and CRISPR.  At the end of my research experience my mentor and I were able to create the sgRNA that would be inputted into CRISPR in addition to the donor template we plan on using to repair the cleaved DNA by means of homologous recombination. After all, I have used this experience as a learning opportunity to observe and find if lab research was something I could see myself being a part of in the future. My overall thoughts were; perhaps I would like to be in a lab setting later in my life, before then I would want to gain as much knowledge as possible of the leading subjects that scientists are tackling and master techniques they use on a daily bases. In the end, this experience has absolutely set my path towards the medical field due to my desire to continuously help others in finding cures and find methods to rejuvenate the health of others when they are sick.