Happy New Year everyone!
Much like everyone, I got back to school this week. I am now down to my 4th semester here at Penn State, meaning that I will soon be halfway into my journey in college. TIME FLIES!!
This semester I am taking only 16 credits compared to my earlier semesters where I would be between 18 and 21. I will be studying animal and plant physiology in BIO 240, functional and integrative neurosciences in BIO 470, how to become an Emergency Medical Technician in KINES 403, electromagnetism and waves in PHYS 251, and some general chemistry lab skills in CHEM 113. I am super pumped to take KINES 403 and BIO 470, two courses with A TON of information but extremely valuable for my career goals such as anatomy and patient treatment in KINES while I am learning more about how motor control and sensory information work in BIO 470.
As always, my lab is going very well, I just got back days ago and I am now working on how Schwann cells, the cells of your peripheral nervous system, react when given vitamin B9. I am particularly interested in how much nerve growth factor they produce, which is important for nerve regeneration and would make vitamin B9 a great nutrient to treat peripheral nerve injuries.
Lastly, during my trip to India, I had a lot of time to read which I used to learn more about Indian authors in the sciences. Hence, I would advise everyone to read “The Gene” by Siddartha Mukherjee, an oncologist at Columbia University originally from New Delhi.