Connections to My Career by Victoria Grieve

What do you see?

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:46:55 UTC

Same image different story.

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:46:59 UTC

Penicillin

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:48:42 UTC

When Alexander Fleming returned from vacation in 1928, he found his petri dishes overgrown in the sink of his lab. One one dish, mold was growing but no other bacteria. This is because the mold had secreted something that stopped the bacteria from growing. Fleming's ability to see things from a different perspective led to antibiotics.

American Chemical Society International Historic Chemical Landmarks. Discovery and Development of Penicillin. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html (accessed 2/18/24).

Minoxidil

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:49:44 UTC

Minoxidil was originally a high blood pressure medication, but during clinical trials, an important side effect was observed. The drug caused hair growth. With this side effect in mind, it is now made in a topical form and is used to treat baldness. The scientists realized and were able to embrace that the drug was not successful in the way they thought but that it could work very well to solve a different problem.

Rossi, A., Cantisani, C., Melis, L., Iorio, A., Scali, E., & Calvieri, S. (2012). Minoxidil use in dermatology, side effects and recent patents. Recent patents on inflammation & allergy drug discovery, 6(2), 130–136. https://doi.org/10.2174/187221312800166859

Anti-venom

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:50:04 UTC

Researchers wanted to develop an antibody that could neutralize snake venom. In all the tests it worked perfectly, but when actually applied, it worsened the effects of the venom. This is because the antibody was given after the subject received the venom. This result is initially disappointing, but the results and further research could explain a lot about how venom and toxins move through the body and in turn, how to better neutralize them.

Wilcox, C. (2024, January 16). A promising snakebite treatment seemed ready for prime time. then, it backfired. Science. https://www.science.org/content/article/promising-snakebite-treatment-seemed-ready-prime-time-then-it-backfired

In the Real World

grievevi — 2024-02-06 22:50:14 UTC

Message

grievevi — 2024-02-19 00:44:33 UTC

My message is that for discovery, it is important to consider things from different perspectives. Just because an experiment did not have the results you hoped for, that does not mean they are not useful.

Reflection

grievevi — 2024-02-19 00:52:12 UTC

This is important for my career because in genetics, every experiment has the ability to tell you more about how genes interact and how different processes do and don’t work.

This is also an important idea for me to remember and to apply throughout my career because it will allow me to better understand the results of my research and use that information to help people or other scientists. Even if experiments do not turn out how I had hoped, I need to remember to keep an open mind because that is an essential skill that will help me reach my goals within my career as a genetic researcher.