Germany
4-week long internship in the Department of Synthetic Biology of the University of the Saarland directed by Prof. Dr. Tsing-Young Dora Tang. I got insight into droplet-microfluidics, cell-free experimentation and the formation of coarcevates, concentrating on the purification and characterisation of a protein. I also gained experimental experience in working with cell cultures, in gene expression and and purifying proteins, aswell as using Laboratory equipment like precise fluorescence microscopes or wellplate readers.
I followed a PhD Student on his project that was between two laboratories in two Institutes, contributing to the lab’s ongoing research on cellular physiology and protein synthesis. The project I worked on was “Bacterial cell surface modifications by Aminoacyl-tRNA transferases: molecular characterization of Aminoacyl-tRNA channeling and utilization pathways.” I performed biochemical and molecular biology techniques like TLCs, cloning, gel electrophoresis, and cell culture maintenance and assisted in the analysis of genetic expression patterns.
Leader of German conversation courses at the university in Strasbourg. I held german workshops several times a week. It taught me to conveil information clearly. I also trained my capacity of organising the classes I held, aswell as adapting myself to the students and their language level.
I participated in an intensive technical program focused on microtechnology for quantitative biology. I received hands-on training in Oxford Nanopore Sequencing (long-read DNA/RNA sequencing) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) for gene expression analysis. I also learned about new microfluidics techniques and their use in different laboratories.
3-week clinical research internship focusing on neurodegenerative diseases. I gained insight into the translational pipeline between clinical neurology and molecular diagnostics, specifically regarding ALS and even Parkinson’s disease models. The last week I learned about cellular biology, making cell cultures from newborn mice neurones.