Ahhhhhhhhhhh is the sound of me screaming inside my head as I finally typed the finishing sentences to my lab report that is due tomorrow. It was a rough six hours after class I spent inside my dorm room writing furiously on my computer, with an hour break for dinner. Hopefully, Elaine finished her part as well (we split the report between us), and I have faith in her, but I guess we will see tomorrow, because I am ready to go to sleep right now. We do have until 4:00 PM tomorrow to turn in the report, so I know we'll be fine.
This morning, we had our guest speaker in a combined lecture with the biotech class again. We seem to do a lot of activities today with the biotech class, probably because what we are studying are somewhat related. Today's topic was microbiome. I learned a lot of new terminologies during this lecture, including the fancy-sounding microbiota, which is different from a microbiome by the slightest of distinctions. I also learned that everyone's microbiome is unique to themselves, determined by anything from the environment we are in to our diet. Our microbiome, especially our gut bacteria, can impact our health; it can even determine our risk of getting diabetes.
The lecture was pretty cool, but I definitely liked last week's guest lecture on pharmacogenomics more. In my point of view, I think pharmacogenomics is a more exciting field, one that I can see the practical application of more readily. Researching and learning about microorganisms is obviously important in its own way as well. It's just a matter of my preference for pharmacogenomics, which is a relatively new field, compared to the older filed of studying microbes.
After the lecture, the biotech class joined our class in one of our labs. We were stimulating the spread of an infectious disease through a population by shaking hands with each other. The larger population size with the addition of the biotech class made for a more accurate and representative model than just our class of 17 people.
Everyone had to mingle with each other while the music played. On a sidenote, when Dr. Fineschi asked for song requests, someone said "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira, so "Hips Don't Lie" it was. It was extremely hilarious, because everyone was so awkward. Dr. Fineschi encouraged us to dance if we wanted, but everyone ended weirdly shuffling about the lab room.
After three handshakes, the game was over and we tested everyone to see if they got sick. Unfortunately, I was infected and extremely sick. Sorry, Don, looks like I won't be making it back. It was nice knowing you all.
Jokes aside, we spent the next 15 minutes narrowing down patient zero, who turned out to be Rebecca and Dr. Fineschi. It was an extremely fun activity, but with the lab over, the biotech class had to leave. We thanked them for joining us and were then dismissed by Dr. Fineschi and Dawn to go to lunch since there was some technology issues that they needed to fix before we move on to the next assignments.
After lunch, the issue was fixed, so we went on a program to learn more about the different types of infectious diseases and how they different from each other. The program allowed us to model the spread while adjusting the population size, transmission rates, and susceptibility of individuals for a certain disease. It was actually pretty cool. This took around an hour. Afterwards, we went back to lecture, where we spent the rest of the time talking about HIV again.
Once class was finished, I went back to the lab since Dawn was explaining certain parts of the lab reports for those who still have questions about it. I stayed until 5:00 PM, before it was over and I finally headed back to the dorms. There, I started writing my lab report until dinner, after which I came back and continued to write some more again.
This morning, we had our guest speaker in a combined lecture with the biotech class again. We seem to do a lot of activities today with the biotech class, probably because what we are studying are somewhat related. Today's topic was microbiome. I learned a lot of new terminologies during this lecture, including the fancy-sounding microbiota, which is different from a microbiome by the slightest of distinctions. I also learned that everyone's microbiome is unique to themselves, determined by anything from the environment we are in to our diet. Our microbiome, especially our gut bacteria, can impact our health; it can even determine our risk of getting diabetes.
 |
| Guest lecture + empty seat in front |
After the lecture, the biotech class joined our class in one of our labs. We were stimulating the spread of an infectious disease through a population by shaking hands with each other. The larger population size with the addition of the biotech class made for a more accurate and representative model than just our class of 17 people.
Everyone had to mingle with each other while the music played. On a sidenote, when Dr. Fineschi asked for song requests, someone said "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira, so "Hips Don't Lie" it was. It was extremely hilarious, because everyone was so awkward. Dr. Fineschi encouraged us to dance if we wanted, but everyone ended weirdly shuffling about the lab room.
After three handshakes, the game was over and we tested everyone to see if they got sick. Unfortunately, I was infected and extremely sick. Sorry, Don, looks like I won't be making it back. It was nice knowing you all.
Jokes aside, we spent the next 15 minutes narrowing down patient zero, who turned out to be Rebecca and Dr. Fineschi. It was an extremely fun activity, but with the lab over, the biotech class had to leave. We thanked them for joining us and were then dismissed by Dr. Fineschi and Dawn to go to lunch since there was some technology issues that they needed to fix before we move on to the next assignments.
 |
| Really nice walk back to class |
Once class was finished, I went back to the lab since Dawn was explaining certain parts of the lab reports for those who still have questions about it. I stayed until 5:00 PM, before it was over and I finally headed back to the dorms. There, I started writing my lab report until dinner, after which I came back and continued to write some more again.
Cecilia,
ReplyDeleteYour photography have gotten so strong throughout this trip! It sounds like you have learned a lot in this course and loving every minute of it. I am so glad!
Love,
Ms. Sciacca
Sorry to hear you're ill, Cecilia. See if someone can take photos for a blog.
ReplyDeleteWe're stuck paying for your airline ticket so there's no benefit to us having you get sick like this. Please give my loaner items to one of the other ILCers so they can bring them back.
One of UChicago's insurance requirements i something called Repatriation Insurance. This means in the even that you get sick--or worse--the insurance will bring you back to your parents. Good to have now that you've contracted this illness.