In terms of experiencing the highs and lows of this project and testing my capabilities, these days in the lab since the midpoint of my project have already truly exemplified that. With my supervisor away, I have in essence been fully independent. Managing my own time the last few days has definitely been very rewarding - I love my lab book and planning everything I am going to do. I am writing this and making my silly meme in the Maths and Computer Science Cafe, which in my opinion, as one of the few cafes still open around Science Site in Durham, is one of the most beautiful places for a decaffeinated summer student who has been hunched over a microscope for two hours solid earlier today. 

That is not to say that working in a lab like this has just been using cool microscopes (like the big confocal microscope that we use to view slides to see individual stem cell proliferation which uses lasers and actually makes me unreasonably excited every time I get to use it) and buying only slightly overpriced iced coffees (worth it still). There are so many tasks individual to the day - dissections, moving to different temperatures for gene knockdown or increase rate of reproduction, etc. - as well as all the tasks that need to keep being repeated to keep the Drosophila happy and healthy. This is because of that pesky urgency-importance conundrum, which I'm slowly figuring out how to manage without having my supervisor around all the time to check in with that I'm doing the right thing, or all of the biology knowledge to be 100% sure of it. As a result, I get to level up on my extra reading, and gain more knowledge and confidence as I repeat procedures more - which does also sometimes mean asking the PhD student a million questions when she's around and not busy (thank you so much for putting up with me, Fanila!!!).

It's all very motivating to see things working out really well. I was told I set a little very unofficial record for most successful Drosophila guts dissected first day - which either means I am allowed to stay or I am not allowed to leave depending on the PI in the lab you ask. I can't lie, I initially had very difficult feelings about dissecting, because I had kind of forgotten my project wouldn't just be ✨stem cells✨ and I would have to dissect the flies to see what our gene of interest did. Reassurance came in the fact that it is standard as practice, they are treated as humanely as possible, and these genes are not random, it's not just for fun - they may directly be involved in causing some cancers and I am directly involved in finding that out. I have developed such appreciation for Drosophila - these little invertebrates that many people squish without thinking when they're being kind of annoying, flying around slightly rotten fruit you've forgotten about in summer - which actually have such cool genomes that we can do this research. It has been very rewarding to see the whole process from eggs to adult to dissect, and I always try to be as respectful as possible, because science should always be done with care and respect no matter what you're working with, in my opinion. I am glad to say I have had no fly problems so far (touch wood). This is not to say everything has gone exactly according to plan though.

I've had a few incidents: micropipette not actually micropipetting because of faulty pipette tips (didn't realise because as the name suggests, absolutely micro volume is being pipetted so very difficult to see either way, especially if I forget to bring my glasses to labs) and as a result no staining occurring; spillage occurring at some point between me making my samples and collecting them from the cold room, meaning all my samples got mixed together, which is very bad when they are four different genotypes; starting dissections too late in the day and having lunch at 3pm during the 10 minutes my samples were on the orbital shaker, to name a few. And with each one, I have very much had a learning experience; in particular that even seemingly perfect protocols can have secret ways they can go wrong even if you aren't immediately doing anything wrong. It can be equally motivating to solve a problem when one arises as when something goes perfectly. Sometimes you need to find equipment that works for you and be adaptable (quick maths to adjust volumes but keep the same concentrations, keeping A-Level Chemistry fresh in my brain). Sometimes it may say you can start any time between 10am and 2pm, but realistically, it should be closer to 10am and you have to time manage. Sometimes your samples just get spilled and you can either be really upset and try to figure out exactly what happened and be angry with yourself for messing up - or you can treat them as practice, finish the staining, and see if you can figure out which is which based on the phenotype (appearance) present. Basically created a true double-blind test the drug-induced gene knockdown - what great science and what a great way to build up resilience when things don't go as intended. 

I am still very excited for my real separately identifiable results which I should be able to start viewing this week. It takes time for Drosophila to lay, grow, hatch, age, etc. so the crosses I set up in the first week are just beginning to hatch - and with that, this actually feels like truly my project. I've been trained very well in the necessary techniques with other people's small biases and other people's practice Drosophila, but now I am feel much more confident in my personal preferences and I have had a direct role in all of the steps now, with a lot of guidance and help which I now can implement independently for some (hopefully) significant scientific results which I will also get to share here (also hopefully, if I can ramble less!) If anyone has read to the end of this, I hope it is interesting and at least somewhat coherent! Any questions, just let me know and I'll keep you updated on how it is going :)