For my research project, I planned to use SPR to measure the binding affinity between Riboglow RNA (an RNA tagging tool) and a Cbl-fluorophore probe. I’ve been shadowing other lab members for the past couple of weeks, learning how to do all the experiments I need to know how to do for my own project. Since this is my first time really working in a lab setting, I had a lot of things to learn. However, now that I’m pretty confident in my capabilities, I hope to get started on my own project this upcoming week. 

My plan has not really changed from the original version; I am still working on gaining a strong understanding of various lab procedures, and I am still working on completing my original project. 

I have faced some challenges; the main one is that I have realized that there is a lot I don’t know since I’m so new to this type of work. I’ve worked on approaching these challenges by asking a lot of questions, reading papers on my own time, and trying to spend as much time as I can in the lab. This has helped me feel more confident in my abilities; it has also helped me become more prepared to do my own project. 

Over the next 3 weeks, I plan to start running my own experiments that are necessary for my project. I hope to perform a series of transformations, overnights, and midipreps. I then need to run in-vitro transcription to produce RNA. Hopefully, then I should be able to use ITC and SPR to measure the binding affinity between the purified RNA and the cobalamin ligand, as was my original plan. 

Additionally, I need to start drafting a version of my research poster. Using the template/knowledge provided by the Laidlaw workshop last Friday, I plan to get an idea of the information I need to complete the poster so I have an idea of what I want my poster to look like before I start gathering data. I want to get started on the research poster early so I have time to edit it so it is ready by the deadline. I’m very excited to continue this work and keep meeting people from the Laidlaw program!