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BOSTON EXPERIENCE

June 6th, 2018. First meeting with Stephan Jacobs, at the Bauhaus Atelier café in Weimar, Germany. 

Stephan initiated the exchange program between my home university (Bauhaus Universität) and EC. He helped me build my study plan and supervised me during my time in EC. Over time, he became a sincere friend. 

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September 30th, 2018. First day in Boston. Jetlag was hard to get over, but I eventually got along with the vibes of this city. A special thanks go to Jill Meleedy and Douglas Upton who supported me within my visa process and the orientation day.  I commute every morning to school, but I wouldn't live in another place. My roommate and his puppy bring me a nice balance with the intense school rhythm. 

September 12th, 2018.  I met Mehmet Berkman while he was setting up Bacterial Art exhibition at EC 5th floor hallway. He is a scientist who performed collaborative work with the bio-artist Maria Peñil Cobo. As I presented myself and my project, Momo got pretty excited about my work and decided to introduce me to Pr. Jonathan Beckwith, Harvard Medical School professor. 

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October 3th, 2018. After my first meeting with Jon, he invited me to join him at a casual gathering with other Harvard scientists. This meeting occurs every two weeks and aims to discuss the news in the science world, with always an ethic angle. They got quite interested in my artistic approach of the (controversial and delicate in the US) topic of ethinicity and invited me for regular meetings. I particularly bound with Sheldon Krimsky and Michael Carson.

 

  • MEETING WITH PAUL MARCH (09/19)

Pr. Paul March is my science supervisor. He helps to deal with all practical/legal regulations and help me building my DNA sequencing plan. We decided to separate the experiment in 2 parts, as the experiment requires very sophisticated and costly equipment. I will then process the first part (collecting/extracting DNA/PCR) at EC. 

 

  • MEETING WITH MELANIE LEUSSIS (10/04)

She informed me that the work with blood anywhere within EC facility requires BSL-2 safety procedures (which EC is not set up for). But I can proceed with cheek swabs without needing further approval. 

 

  • MEETING WITH PAUL MARCH (10/12)

We clarified the safety training issue. Paul March emailed Liane Hartnett (lab manager) so for her to schedule a meeting with a professional safety trainer. That training will allow me to perform the experiment by myself, otherwise, I will need the constant supervision of Paul March. 

 

  • MEETING WITH MIKE MALMBERG (11/02)

The training has been done. I am now allowed to pursue my work after hours. 

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  • MEETING WITH PAUL MARCH (11/09)

 After endless research, I finally found a scientist protocol that seems to refer to the DNA region that shows the difference between European and East Asian genotype. Paul March helped me to comprehend every subtle detail of it.

 

  • DNA SEQUENCING FOUND (11/14)

Based on his knowledge on the Human Genome Project, Paul March calculated the exact DNA sequencing we need to consider, in order to set up the PCR experience. 

 

  • PRIMERS ORDERED (11/16)

The primers were ordered and everything was then prepared for us to get the experiment started. 

 

  • THE D-DAY (11/30)

DNA extraction from saliva. DNA purification. PCR and electrophoresis. It was tough but we made it through. Special thanks to Paul. None of this would have been possible without his tremendous support and contributing work.

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