preview

Hst Program Entry Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

I am extremely excited by the opportunity to join a program that combines quantitative and analytical approaches to solve interesting biological issues in combating diseases and creating therapies. At Caltech, I have seen the benefits of a small community as people fro various fields and disciplines work together to solve research question, together. The HST program is for my future as a physician-scientist, but also builds from my prior education and experiences. My mentor, professor Rob Phillips has always advocated for applying these principles to solve biological problems. I helped teach his class biology lab course Bi1x, as a TA and the curriculum emphasizes the principles derived from physics and mechanics in approaching biological questions. The modules reflect how we can through the use of quantitative analysis and our basic understanding of theories form hypotheses and models. For example, in our drosophila module, we quantify the bicoid gradient in the embryo and compare how its expression affects the placement of the cephalic furrow. Throughout the process, we compare the textbook French flag model and learn how to quantitatively measure the levels of bicoid and furrow in the embryo. In the module I developed, we engineered strains of C. elegans that would allow us to look at the network circuitry of neurons using optogenetics. …show more content…

I learned to read through current literature that combines theories from fluid dynamics to understand morphogenesis. Based on these findings, we discussed the ramifications and potential for the future and what it means to understand these systems from these approaches. All in all, I have come to have a greater appreciation and interest in integrating these different tools towards

Get Access