By Taylor Phillips
Copy Editor
Mira Costa junior Lauren Jester participated in medical research of stem cells through a local lab, in hopes of understanding regenerative diseases better and furthering her immersion in the medical field.
Jester, who is a part of Mira Costa’s biotechnology program, wanted to get some more experience in the medical field in addition to the school’s program. Jester’s tutor, who had previously participated in a medical research program through a lab in Torrance called Pathways, had suggested that Jester apply for the program.
“I saw searching for a program that was conducting in-person research during the pandemic,” Jester said. “[My tutor] said that it was a very rewarding experience so I was eager to get involved. I was selected to help with the research after applying by writing about my deep interest in the subject, my eagerness to learn more necessary laboratory skills, and my previous qualifications as a member of the Biotechnology program at school.”
Jester enrolled in the week long Intro to Stem Cell Systems course at Pathways. Pathways is a stem cell research lab that helps students get more experience in bioscience and get students more interested in entering college to major in a bioscience career.
“The specific field that I was working in was stem cell research,” Jester said. “Stem cells are the basis for bodily tissue and can generate other cells with specialized functions. Stem cell research can increase our understanding of diseases and further regenerative medicine.”
According to Jester, the class would start with a lecture to give background information on the types of stem cells and cancer stem cells that they would be working with that day. Then, the class would get ready in their personal protective equipment and go into the lab. Jester would work on the specific task with the stem cells, and then come back and recap on the lab work and what they learned while they were back in the lab.
“I learned how to work with electronic pipettes, work with centrifuges, conduct aseptic technique, and learned how to prepare a basic cell culture medium,” Jester said. “I also learned how to measure the invasive and migratory captivity of cancer and stem cells, how to isolate neural stem cells, how to passage Neurospheres, and how to reprogram Fibroblasts to Pluripotent Stem Cells. From this experience, I learned that conducting clinical research requires much patience. You have to accept that failure is inevitable and okay as long as you learn from it. This attitude that failure was beneficial surprised me a lot.”
According to Pathway, the course includes immersion in the lab with basic stem cells, cancer stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and adult stem cells. The program also allows for the students on the last day to apply what they learned over the week and use human stem cells to research different types of medicines that can help treat patients with cancer and other degenerative diseases.
“The end goal of the research we were doing was to gain a better understanding of how stem cells work and how the stem cell technology is expanding in the medical field,” Jester said. “Through the research, I hope to acquire new knowledge and skills that will help me to be selected for an internship or a job in the biotech field in the real world.”
Jester would like to continue to pursue biotechnology and some kind of career in medicine in her future. Jester learned a lot through this hands on experience and enjoyed being able to engage in a subject that she was very interested in and very passionate about.
“Medical research is definitely something that I am looking to pursue in college and hopefully one day make a career out of,” Jester said. “I have not yet decided whether I want to go down the clinical research path of medicine or the treatment path where I would work directly with patients. However, either path I choose, I know that the skills that I have acquired in this program will benefit me for the future.”
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