It has been 3 months since I arrived in Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire
(I.G.B.M.C), France. I landed on
the most beautiful city in the world, Paris and had a wonderful opportunity to
ride the World’s fastest train TGV to a beautiful little city of Strasbourg. I
was welcomed by Nasim Vasli, a PhD student from my lab who took me to meet my
Thesis Advisor Dr.Jocelyn Laporte.
After the warm welcome I was introduced to Dr.Belinda Cowling, a Post-Doctoral
Researcher with whom I have been working in the project. I was then showed to
my own workbench and supplies. It took a
couple of days to get used to the lab, equipments and stocks but by the end of
the week I was a part of the Team. People here are so patient and down to earth
clarifying every doubt I have and helping and supporting me in every way
possible.
My project is on “Role
of Dynamin 2 in Skeletal Muscle and its implication in Centronuclear Myopathy”.
Centronuclear Myopathy is a Neuromuscular Disorder which is the principle
interest of investigation of the team. The first two weeks were spent on
reading papers and review articles to familiarize myself with the topic. I have
also had training for Animal handling and Fluorescent Microscopy.
My project involves the use of mice models to study the
phenotype and also to perform therapeutic experiments. So I have learned the
techniques of animal handling and sacrifice. The one thing I love about my team
is the communication. We have lab meetings every week to update the team
members on what everyone is working on, Journal clubs to discuss new ideas,
Human Genetics meeting to know about the projects of the other teams and to
learn about new papers and techniques and also a personal meeting with
Dr.Jocelyn Laporte to discuss the progress of the project and also to get
suggestions on future experiments.
The lab members are very friendly and fun loving with a lot
of celebrations and fun traditions of the lab. Living in a multicultural team
with members from about seven different nationalities, gives me more to learn
than just science. And there are so many Indians here in I.G.B.M.C that you
will never feel lost or lonely.
I really thank SRM University for providing such a great
chance and many thanks to Dr.M.Parani for making this amazing learning
experience possible. I thank Dr.Belinda Cowling for teaching me a lot in this
project internship and guiding me and supporting me in every possible way. I
also thank Dr.Jocelyn Laporte for providing this opportunity in his laboratory
with a stipend to support my stay here in France.
- Sushmitha,
IVth B.Tech Genetic Engineering
SRM University