Hello friends!
My name’s Adam and I’m the Managing Editor for Outreach on MSURJ! I’m studying biochemistry and will be entering the fourth and final year of my undergrad at McGill. With a new school year comes a new edition of MSURJ, and I am very excited to see what’s going to be published in this year’s journal!
This summer, I’m conducting research at the Goodman Cancer Center here at McGill. My project is a mix of genetics and biochemistry, as I’m looking at the oncogenic properties of a magnesium transporter-phosphatase complex. The key technique I’ve been implementing to conduct this investigation is CRISPR, a novel genome editing tool.
In the past few years, CRISPR has received widespread attention due to its potential to allow targeted editing of genomes with high fidelity. CRISPR is precise down to a nucleotide resolution, and thus the extent of genome editing is almost limitless. Of note, CRISPR is being investigated to fix deleterious mutations that are caused by genetic disorders. While a seemingly huge step forward, there are a whole range of technical, ethical, and financial issues facing the field. If you’re interested in learning more, check out this interest piece in nature: http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v33/n5/full/nbt.3234.html
And that’s it for me! To all those undergrads currently conducting research, I wish you good luck on your summer adventures and I highly recommend you consider submitting to MSURJ. To those currently not involved in undergrad research, I would definitely recommend giving it a try as research can be a very eye-opening experience. And to all those currently looking for a research position, don’t give up— you’ll find the right lab for you soon!
-Adam
The Abstract 