Independent Component 1

LITERAL

a.) I, Vanessa Machuca, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b.) Dr. Rosemary Redfield of the University of British Columbia taught the online genetics course I took for my first independent component on Coursera.  Here is a link to a an overview of the class.  My mentor, Manjula Gunawardana, introduced me to the other part of my independent component - the tar extraction project - and has been my main source of information regarding why the project is being carried out, project protocol details, etc.

c.) My independent component log is right above  my mentorship log on the right side of this page.

d.)  For "Useful Genetics Part 1", I watched nearly thirty videos and took notes for all of them.  For the tar extraction project, I went through the protocol twice with others in the lab.  It took 5.5 hours over two days to complete it the first time, as we took the extra step of preparing the samples for amplification by PCR - to see if we had successfully extracted DNA from the tar.  The second time took two hours, as we stopped to complete the 10 Things To Do List.

INTERPRETIVE and APPLIED

Taking "Useful Genetics" gave me a refresher on my biology basics.  I found myself asking simple questions at mentorship that I should have known the answers to.  Knowing how genes are passed down, mutated, expressed, stored in DNA then RNA - how life works is imperative at my mentorship, and relearning this has enabled me to be more confident around the lab.  I knew these concepts before - thanks Mrs. Matthews and Cancino - but the specifics, the names, the order of things - this little bits were what I had trouble with.  Here is a link to a sample of the notes I took.  It includes my first page of notes, some on mutations, and some on cancer.  As you can see in the image below, most lecture videos are around twenty minutes and I watched about thirty of them - that's 10 hours there.  Add onto that the six quizzes I took, each lasting around 1 hour, plus that the times I paused the videos to take notes, the re-watching of parts I hadn't caught the first time around, the problems Redfield included in the videos, and you have the 24 hours I've recorded on my log.

The green checks indicate that I watched those videos. (5 Modules in total)

There there's the tar extraction project.  On my log, I recorded the time I was assigned to the project, the conversation I had with Manji regarding it, the and the two extractions themselves that I took part in.  I wrote about both of these times here and here.  All of this has familiarized me with how microbiology works: plan, collect samples, store, run tests, gain knowledge.  Learning the tar extraction protocol, carrying it out, getting this hands on experience has helped me become more comfortable in the lab and familiar with my abilities.  I've enjoyed learning from those around me who have far experience than I do.  Pipette diagonally and against the well wall; when in doubt, throw it out; balance out any samples you place in the centrifuge; pound that tar like you mean it! - I will carry these bits of guidance with me into mentorship this year as well as any lab I intern at in the future.  As for justifying the hours I've logged, I'll just say that, as you can imagine, crushing tar to a fine powder and transforming it (quite magically) into a clear liquid takes a while...        

photos of my first tar extraction