Week 3

     This week went by really quickly. In lab I learned a few more techniques. We ran polysome profiles, and made the gradients that go with them. On the profile, each peak corresponds to part of the lysate of the cells. The first big peak is the lysate which is full of extra protein and light cell parts. After that, we have peaks for the 40s and 60s subunits of the ribosome. The 80s comes next. Following the 80s, we come to the polysomes ( strands of mRNA with multiple ribosomes actively elongating). The higher the peak the more of the respective substance is in that layer. It has been observed that when eIF3e is deleted we see fewer high number polysomes ( polysomes of 3 and higher).

     This week I finally got to meet Dr. Wolf. He had been out of the country for the past few weeks. He helped us optimize our PCR. We ran our DNA again and still have to interpret the images from the gel.

     On Tuesday, we had dinner downtown for Jose's birthday. Trying to find parking was awful. Luckily, I found a garage that wasn't too expensive nor was it too far away. For dinner, we ate at Yardhouse which was an interesting restaurant. Since we don't ESPN in our apartment, it was nice to be able to watch some sports again.

    Lastly, we had our first presentation this week. I think it went really well for everyone. It was interesting hearing about the projects and hearing the PIs' various questions. It was particularly entertaining to see Dr. Wolf and Dr. Salveson go back and forth discussing the details of the Salveson project.