Hi, everyone.
My name is Soomin Park, and I'm a sophomore [INAUDIBLE].
So today I'm going to present how my last summer has
influenced my future planning to be a research scientist.
So I want to start from how I got my first opportunity
in research internship.
So I used the department emails.
I found them very informational.
They told me a lot of information sessions
or other research [INAUDIBLE].
They gave me a good grasp [INAUDIBLE].
Also, the clubs and organizations
were very helpful.
So there is chemistry, biochemistry, [INAUDIBLE]
other presenter is vice-president.
So they have sent me a lot of [INAUDIBLE] about [INAUDIBLE]
for success for research internship,
or how to search the research opportunities [INAUDIBLE].
However, I have some personal restrictions
because I [INAUDIBLE], and also [INAUDIBLE] internship.
There were not that many internship opportunities
that I could apply for, and also I didn't get [INAUDIBLE]
because I'm an international student.
And I didn't get [INAUDIBLE] funding, so [INAUDIBLE].
So I decided I would go back to Korea, which is my home,
and then stay with my family, but have
internship near by my house.
So I can save money and [INAUDIBLE].
So I searched around my house and there were
[INAUDIBLE] research institutes or the universities.
So I went to their lab websites, read their research interests,
and also the abstracts of their published papers, which
helped me [INAUDIBLE].
So I got two of them, two positive emails back,
and I had interviewed [INAUDIBLE].
So KAIST is Korea Advanced Institute
of Science and Technology.
It is one of the top universities in Korea,
especially for science.
So I was lucky enough to get in there.
And I was in chromatin biology lab,
which was graduate school lab.
So here are some pictures of my lab.
And so we had like weekly lab seminar,
which we shared our experiences for the week and the challenges
we met in during the lab, or also
how to solve those challenges or share the ideas.
And we had some occasion to [INAUDIBLE] lunch
or dinner, and once a month we [INAUDIBLE].
So finally to my research.
So--
Thank you for coming.
Make yourselves comfortable.
So I'll start again from my research.
So not only mine, but the overall [INAUDIBLE].
Research was all focused on [INAUDIBLE].
So most of them were focused on the study, which
is about the [INAUDIBLE] organism called [INAUDIBLE]
modification of the gene expression,
like the alteration of the genetic [? code. ?]
So here is the basic flowchart, like what
my research is based on.
So there is something called [INAUDIBLE].
It is a multi- [INAUDIBLE] complex.
And [INAUDIBLE] very important functions
in the eukaryotic cells.
But one of it is transcription [INAUDIBLE].
So one way that you regulate the transcription
is by recurring the [INAUDIBLE], which is [INAUDIBLE].
And there's also [INAUDIBLE], which is enzyme,
and then it has [INAUDIBLE], which also
interacts with [INAUDIBLE].
And it is, it eventually [INAUDIBLE].
So then, what is eukaryotic transcription?
So here is a basic overview.
So it is replicating the genetic information of the DNA
into binary in eukaryotic cells, and it
is in three-step processes, and mine was [INAUDIBLE].
So there is [INAUDIBLE] complex, which I
would have called [INAUDIBLE].
And it has seven genetic transcription vectors,
and [INAUDIBLE].
And then this is how, basically, transcription
gets initiated in the cell.
And there's SAGA and Proteasome.
So SAGA has a lot of different modules.
It is a very big and complex protein molecule.
And then there is [INAUDIBLE], which [INAUDIBLE].
And proteasome is a protein [INAUDIBLE] enzyme,
but it also has a few [INAUDIBLE],
such as [INAUDIBLE] SAGA and [INAUDIBLE].
So here's a basic animation, like it's
a really simplified version to show
what is actually happening.
So there is [? recurring DNA ?] [INAUDIBLE]
And SAGA gets nearby the [INAUDIBLE] region,
that it [INAUDIBLE] formation, so there
comes seven different transcription vectors,
and [INAUDIBLE].
And this is like what happens when the transcription gets
initiated.
Then proteasome comes back, and then what happens
is SAGA [INAUDIBLE] gets dissociated by proteasome,
and now it can't recruit the [INAUDIBLE] region anymore.
So this is one way to regulate the transcription initiation.
Then my purpose of the lab was to evaluate
the effect of SAGA proteasome correction in transcription
initiation by measuring the saturation of active DNA
[INAUDIBLE] one of the pink protein
that is colored in green.
So I used [INAUDIBLE], which is just [INAUDIBLE].
And for the [INAUDIBLE], I used [INAUDIBLE]
And the method I used was ChIP-seq.
It is [INAUDIBLE] sequence method.
And what it does is basically we are
trying to sequence the genomic DNA fragments that
are bonded by [INAUDIBLE].
And [INAUDIBLE] I used in the process
was, again, [INAUDIBLE] protein.
And so by fixating and isolating and fragmentizing the DNA
protein complexes, and using antibody
to precipitate [INAUDIBLE] DNA complex,
I could amplify the [INAUDIBLE] DNA
and sequence the DNA [INAUDIBLE].
So I have a few different result analysis, and also
qualitative analysis, but this was
the average of [INAUDIBLE] at the transcription target sight.
So this was drawn by using [INAUDIBLE], which
is a software.
And then here, from this graph, you
can see that [INAUDIBLE], which is the proteasome mutated on,
has seen from a higher amount of DNA
sequence and the transcription target sight.
And compared to that, [INAUDIBLE].
So what it leads to is-- here's the flowchart again--
but this time, proteasome has [INAUDIBLE] mutated,
which leads to no interaction with SAGA.
That means SAGA [INAUDIBLE] is not getting [INAUDIBLE],
and that leads to [INAUDIBLE].
And that explains why more DNA was sequenced.
Then [INAUDIBLE].
Again, there's no interaction with the proteasome,
but also, [INAUDIBLE] is not getting [INAUDIBLE].
It is taken [INAUDIBLE], because there are other molecules
that [INAUDIBLE].
So that explains why [INAUDIBLE] sequence.
So from my experience, I could evaluate that seven [INAUDIBLE]
does indeed influence [INAUDIBLE]
by regulating transcription. [INAUDIBLE].
Then what have I learned in the research?
I had a very valuable experience, lab experience,
[? in the class. ?] I learned the real life,
like the real kind of research experience.
And then how important note-taking and asking
questions and learning is.
So it is really important for me to ask questions
to my PhD mentor, and also to the other people,
because I didn't ask many questions initially.
[INAUDIBLE].
So I started asking questions and found [INAUDIBLE].
They are such good resources.
And I wrote down everything that I did, note-taking.
And I learned all those.
I was really great for me to learn and practice
how to plan and perform [INAUDIBLE].
And then also I learned cleared vision and plan for [INAUDIBLE]
after graduation.
So I'm very sure that I'm going to go
to graduate school and then three more years of college,
hopefully.
And I want to pursue the research field in genetics,
or maybe somewhere else in biochemical field.
And also I realized how important
it is to learn [INAUDIBLE].
So I'm going to take more pure science classes, apparently,
during three more years of graduate school.
[INAUDIBLE], and thank you.