STEP Reflection

My STEP Signature Project involved being an intern at a lab at the poultry barn at Ohio State, where I worked with genetically modified quail. These quail were either wild type or homozygous for a myostatin knockout gene that has been shown in other species to improve muscle growth as myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle growth. I was in charge of health checks, providing food and water, as well as weighing and collecting data of the quail from the fifth day they were born up until day 40.
While completing this step project I learned a lot about myself and the type of work that I want to do after college. Most of the work I was doing wasn’t very challenging and was very much routine day to day activities. However, because I knew that it was all going to be for a greater purpose and would lead to new scientific discoveries, it made the work much more enjoyable. I realized that I want to be involved in research as a veterinarian, and more specifically research towards the end of the process, such as working in clinical trial research. While I did enjoy working with the quail I did discover that working with cats and dogs is something I prefer over poultry. I learned a lot about what goes into animal research and how to read and present information from research papers as well as the type of data analysis that is most commonly used in research. This project also really changed my perspective on research and showed me that there is still so much we don’t know. Talking about future projects and the significance of our specific project was very eye opening and got me excited when thinking about the future of animal science research. With only very recently having been able to create germline chimeras in poultry, it has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities.
Starting off with significant events during the project, I think the team meeting we had with everyone involved in the lab was a great way to begin the project. It allowed the other intern and I to get to know everyone, understand the project, its significance, and during it we presented our findings that we believed were significant to our project that we found in various research papers. This helped us form a relationship with our PI and post-doc, as well as get to know each other in the process. Me and the other intern were able to lean on each other throughout the internship, even in non lab related things, like when we were both applying to veterinary school. We were able to talk about what we found interesting and what we wanted to do after school which helped me to understand my passions for research. Getting to work everyday with people that were so passionate about science was really inspiring and made me want to continue to be a part of the research process in the future.
Having meetings with our PI also opened my eyes to the hundreds of opportunities under the umbrella of animal science research. The way he talked about the potential projects we could take on after we finished the current project showed he truly believed the work we were doing would change the world. An example of this is when we talked about using special egg albumin as a way to potentially make new drugs that would help reduce the price of life saving medicine. He also taught us about the inner workings of the research project, and how it involves a lot of behind the scenes work such as writing up proposals, protocols, and finding grants to fund everything. Being able to see all of the work that he had to put into the project also taught me a lot about the responsibilities of being a primary investigator. When I look into the future of wanting to work in research I also want to be like our lab and allow students to be involved because I think it is important to get exposure to research in undergrad because it opens up so many opportunities and new passions for those that get a chance to take part.
Some of the activities that helped me to learn that research is something that I want to continue with after graduation included collecting the data for the project and analyzing the data each week to look for statistical significance. Each week it was exciting to be able to get one step closer to the end goal of our project, and with every collection and evaluation the overall picture would get clearer as the graphs became more complete. Getting to ask questions throughout the process about why the data looked differently than expected I think helped to develop my skills as an intern because questioning why and coming up with potential reasons is an important part of the research process. Even getting the hands on experience of handling the quail at all stages of life, as well as learning how to prepare embryos for bone staining and then analyzing the finished product are useful skills that I am sure I will be able to apply to other situations down the road.
This transformation has been significant to my life because it showed me that I want to be involved in research in my future career. It allowed me to narrow down my options after veterinary school because previously I knew that I was interested in companion animal medicine and research, but I wasn’t completely sure, and I had no idea what careers in research as a veterinarian would look like. It led me to inquire and think about which part of the process I was most interested in and more importantly how I could incorporate companion animals into research. After looking into it and asking my PI and a research veterinarian at Ohio State, I came to the conclusion that working in clinical trial research was a great fit for me. Clinical trial research combined all of the things that I liked about the research process, along with everything I liked in companion animal medicine.
This project showed me my passion for research and discovering new things about animals. Now that I know what I want to do I know that after veterinary school I will enroll in a residency program so that I will be able to work in clinical trials. I also plan to work in academia and this career path will allow me to do so. Getting to read research papers and present on them was also good skill development for working in academia. Our PI also worked in academia so I was able to see how he created a balance between what seemed to be two different jobs packaged into one. This project really cleared up where I see myself in ten years and taught me what I need to accomplish to obtain the career path.

Here is an image of the first egg laid by the quail: