참가자 정보
본문
리포트 내용
Through my attendance at the Korea Youth Bio Academy, I accrued information and first-hand experience that I would never be able to unless I dedicated hours of my life into entering the biotechnology industry. The peregrination was set in motion by an introduction into the topical field by Lee Minseob, the Chief Executive Officer of EDGC, a prominent Korean company in the realm of genomic analysis and DNA application development. He then passed the baton to the Professors Wesley De Neve, Shodhan Rao, and Joris Vankerschaver, whose sapient discourses spanned various scientific advancements environing biotechnology as a whole. Although these initial stages of the course was an spectacular intellectual journey that contained information that has never been learnt by me before, the highlights were the hands-on experiences. First off, with the anatomical imagery via Magnetic Resonance Imaging equipment, we gave the mice the volatile anesthetic isoflurane and attained MRI images. Second, we went to the Center for Animal Care & Use (CACU), which afforded me a glimpse into the meticulous orchestration, being provided the rarefied privilege to learn how to handle a pair of BALB/c laboratory mice of opposite genders according to guidelines. Finally, the In Vivo Imaging System (IVIS) spotlighted the intricacies of real-time cancer metastasis studies. This hands-on engagement permitted me to fathom the efficacy with which modern biotechnological tools can illuminate and penetrate the hitherto obnubilated biological phenomena. As my trembling, gloved hands cradled the murine specimens, my thoughts meandered to the narrative encapsulated within Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon." The ethereal juxtaposition of the fictive plight of Algernon—a mouse entangled in the intricate web of neuroscientific exploration—and the corporeal creatures in my grasp. Though it receded into the corner of my mind as time passed, when I saw the cancerous growths on the back of the mice in the third area, in me instigated a reverie, amplifying the gravitas of the conflicting ethics that incessantly shadow the advancement of science. Seeing the poor entities sacrificed for the sake of our education made me question my moral compass, and made me contemplate the subject of animal experimentation, which had just manifested as the most generic debate topic to me prior to this experience. In sum, this exalted sojourn through the Incheon biotechnology facilities has rendered me an acolyte at the altar of biotechnological enlightenment. I am truly grateful and appreciative of this chance I have been given, and it has been and will forever be one of the most illustrative Saturdays I've ever had.