Five Weeks in a Plant Lab

Can you believe that I’m already starting my 6th week in the lab? Time is flying by!

Every weekday, I spend three to nine hours in the tissue culture lab, depending on if I visit the school or work in the greenhouse. For the most part, I have been diligently working through the double haploid method – the focus of my research project.

Double Haploid Method: preventing self-pollination in order to create a seed that is haploid, then using colchicine to double the chromosomes. This method is used to preserve a desired trait in the next generation and accelerate the plant breeding process.

That definition is extraordinarily simplified and does not include all of the steps that I am going through, but hopefully, it will give you an idea of what I do.

Most days, my work might include:

• Emasculating or pollinating in the greenhouse
• Removing caryopsis (contains the embryo that will develop into a seed)
• Sterilizing caryopsis
• Rescuing embryos (this means that I split the caryopsis in half under a microscope to pull out the tiny embryo)
• Preparing media for the tiny embryos to grow on
• Writing my internship paper

My collection of caryopsis in a petri dish

In addition, I have helped Neelam, my fantastic mentor, with a few of her projects and worked on a DNA extraction project.

 Neelam and Me

When I look back over the last five weeks, it’s absolutely amazing to think how far I’ve come. On my first day, I could not understand anything Neelam was saying to me, I had no idea how to use a pipet, and I had never even heard of the double haploid method. Now I can tell you the whole process by memory (but I won’t because it will totally bore you unless you are a plant scientist).

In addition to learning about plant breeding, I’ve also learned a lot about myself and the way I work.

1.First and foremost, I’ve learned that I am super clumsy!

This hasn’t been a problem most of my life, but my butter fingers are obvious when I’m working with small tools. One time, Neelam, my mentor, had just finished sterilized a pair of forceps (tweezers) and handed them to me. As soon as she let go, the little metal tool slipped through my gloved fingers and dropped to the counter with a high-pitched “clink!” With a gentle laugh, Neelam picked the forceps up and sterilized them again. I am so grateful for her never-ending patience.

2. Secondly, I have learned that I am capable of learning so much if I do not give up.

During my first week in the lab, nothing made much sense to me. All the words were cumbersome and scientific; all of the equipmemt was foreign to me; all of the concepts were new to me. I felt as if I had been dropped off on another planet that was much more advanced than mine and inhabited by geniuses who spoke a higher form of English and wore colorful kurtas.

However, I did not give up on learning and spent my extra time recopying Neelam’s notes and diagrams, reading articles, and carefully following the experiment instructions. As I result, I now understand my work and have been absorbing much more of the scientific conversations in the lab.

I’m so incredibly proud of my little samples.

3. I’ve gained clarity on what type of work I really enjoy.

During my extra time, I absolutely look forward to writing; I am happiest and feel the most productive when I am working on my internship paper, my blog, or prepared a report. In addition to writing, I have reaffirmed that I love organizing, scheduling, educating, and planning. This knowledge has been invaluable as I’m continuing to look at possible majors for college. Now that I can see where I excel and what I enjoy, I can get a clearer picture of what I might like for a future career.