My Internship Experience
For about 15 hours a week of the whole summer between my junior and senior year I had a wonderful opportunity to have an amazing part time internship with a company named Knudra Transgenics. Kundra is a company that specializes in transgenics, which is taking strands or pieces of DNA and then splicing it into the DNA sequence of a nematode to see how it reacts to the new strand of DNA they put it. Knudra then takes that information and uses to it further research on cures and vaccines for parasite based diseases as well as safer ways to clean crops without using pesticides. While I was there I spent most of my time prepping the days worth of petri dishes and then growing bacteria cultures on them so the nematodes have a food source. I also spent a lot of time stocking whatever chemical or augurs that the genetic engineers and microbiologists needed. It definitely was a very tedious day, having to work in a super clean environment and measuring out chemical compounds to the nearest hundredth of a gram and measuring liquids in microliters (.000001 of a liter). Beyond the tedious work of measurements I also got to screen and pick plates of nematodes. Picking is taking a nematode from one plate to a different plate with a different bacteria culture to see how it reacts. This had to be done under a microscope using a little pick that is smaller than the head of a needle. Being an intern for Knudra is one of my favorite things I have done, because it didn't feel like a job. The environment is really relaxing and has a casual profesional feel. The handful of people who work there are amusing and affable and are always easy to talk to. They do a really good job of making interns feel welcome and important to the project and it is great hands on experience in a lab environment. I would recommend checking out this internship to anyone who is planning on going into a profession with a lab environment.