Zisanur Rahman
Lab affiliation: Cardona Lab
Degree(s) you hold: BSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology; MSc in Biotechnology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): Ph.D
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Feni, Bangladesh
Your research project in one sentence: Probing the essential genome of Burkholderia cenocepacia to identify novel antimicrobial mechanisms of action.
Degree(s) you hold: BSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology; MSc in Biotechnology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): Ph.D
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Feni, Bangladesh
Your research project in one sentence: Probing the essential genome of Burkholderia cenocepacia to identify novel antimicrobial mechanisms of action.
What do you do to relax when you have a lazy day at home?
I immensely enjoy playing games or watching investigative documentaries.
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Three things:
i. No more coursework after this semester.
ii. I would like to complete my candidacy exam by the end of the year.
iii. Keep progressing with my research (finish developing my mutant library).
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
My project involves applying various molecular biology techniques. I create lots of knockdown mutants using a CRISPR-based technique called CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and evaluate their growth phenotypes. I often need to do cloning in a high-throughput manner.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
During my first week in the lab, I was making agar medium and accidentally dissolved 0.7g of LB agar powder instead of 7g. I only realized it after autoclaving when the medium color did not feel right. Silly me!
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
My current challenge is to establish and optimize the assay condition for CRISPRi-Seq to track down depleted mutants in a pool and analyze en masse.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
I started grad school to gain an in-depth understanding of bacterial genetics. Now, I am hoping to gather technical skills and training in modern techniques, including high-throughput Illumina sequencing. I am also appreciating the multidisciplinary aspect of my project as I get to learn techniques from other scientific disciplines as well.
I immensely enjoy playing games or watching investigative documentaries.
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Three things:
i. No more coursework after this semester.
ii. I would like to complete my candidacy exam by the end of the year.
iii. Keep progressing with my research (finish developing my mutant library).
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
My project involves applying various molecular biology techniques. I create lots of knockdown mutants using a CRISPR-based technique called CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and evaluate their growth phenotypes. I often need to do cloning in a high-throughput manner.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
During my first week in the lab, I was making agar medium and accidentally dissolved 0.7g of LB agar powder instead of 7g. I only realized it after autoclaving when the medium color did not feel right. Silly me!
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
My current challenge is to establish and optimize the assay condition for CRISPRi-Seq to track down depleted mutants in a pool and analyze en masse.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
I started grad school to gain an in-depth understanding of bacterial genetics. Now, I am hoping to gather technical skills and training in modern techniques, including high-throughput Illumina sequencing. I am also appreciating the multidisciplinary aspect of my project as I get to learn techniques from other scientific disciplines as well.