Biogen Idec Reflection
Today we took a trip to Biogen Idec Lab. In class we’ve been looking at DNA, genes, traits, etc. We went to the lab and did a simulation. We were asked to test to see if our lymphoma patients were able to take our new drug called “Cancer Killer”. This all depended on if they had the enzyme TPMT which would help treat them, or if they had a defect with the emzyme fTPMT instead. We used our patients DNA (that was actually the DNA of bacteria) to help us determine this.
We were separated into groups of three and four, and started our test. Our instructor, a woman named Annie started us out with information about the company, the tools we’d be using, and the point of our simulation. We worked mainly with a tool called a micropipette. A micropipette is like an eyedropper except that it sucks up really small amounts of liquid that are measured as micro letters. At each table, there was an ice bucket that had little tubes with the DNA of our patients (Not really DNA of cancer patients, but DNA of bacteria), and other elements.
Its kind of hard to explain all of the steps we did. There was a lot of mixing, micropipetting, measuring, and waiting. My favorite part would of had to been injecting the DNA into the gel box. Very stressful, very precise, yet very intriguing. We plugged in the electrical plugs and went to lunch. When we came back, we unplugged the plugs and waited for our results. In the end, two out of three of our patients were unable to use the treatment, however the general result in the room was rather the opposite. When we were doing our analyses though. the page with our results was to faded to be able to compare or measure the DNA. In the end, the experiment was a success.
I learned a lot about things like cancer research, the process of creating drugs, and the extent and precautions a scientist has to go through. Though I have to say, I found myself getting a little bit bored after lunch, and during the Q & A. But I think that had more to do with being in a lab most of the day. Nonetheless, Its definitely fun to be able to reenact things like this on occasion instead of reading about it. Overall though It was a really good learning experience that introduced me to a lot of new things .
