Well, was my first day. It didn't go exactly as scheduled - an awful freezing rain coated the ground this morning, and led to people showing up at different times, but eventually everyone involved was able to get together with me.
I'm getting a basic understanding of what the project is - and it's really really really just basic. Not even up to the level of basic, yet. But I'll try to explain it as best I can at this point to give an idea of what I'm doing. Not that I could be wrong, and this is subject to extensive change.
Anyhow. Basically, the deal is beta-lactam. Beta-lactam is a ring-like structure/molecular piece consisting of I believe three carbons and one nitrogen atom, and is notable because it formed the key component of penicillin (and other antibiotics with similar structures). In a fashion I don't quite understand yet, it's responsible for inhibiting bacterial reproduction by interfering with their cell walls. The problem is that many bacteria have or are developing resistances to these types of drugs.
In the lab, we're trying to synthetically create molecules that feature structures similar to, but slightly different from, standard beta-lactams. For instance, reversed chirality or the addition of tiny fluorine atoms are some of the things being tested. The specific disease we're focusing on happens to be tuberculosis, in part because it's a very relevant disease, and in part because some of the structures created by the lab so far seem particularly suited to interfering with it, rather than other diseases.
In my section of the lab, we're tracking fluorine atoms added to the beta-lactams to try and determine whether the synthetic molecule is interfering with bacteria around the cell wall, or whether the molecules created are going to other parts of the bacteria and proving less effective.
My own role is fairly simple to start, naturally. I'm going to help assemble the head groups of various molecules, and test their purity on the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine we have. My roll might grow as time/skill allows.
I'm not sure how much time will go into this yet. It's very open ended, and the people I'm working for all seem really nice. I'm thinking I'll start on the low end and add hours as possible, rather than plunge in only to realize I've over-committed myself. It's a neat lab, and would be fun to work for entirely aside from letter of recommendation purposes. But I have to make sure that basic MCAT studying still comes first. And I also have to make sure I keep up with my Organic Chemistry course, which will be as tough as ever.
