Thursday, June 17, 2010

It's been less than one week and I've already learned so much.

Remember all of those mechanisms from O. chem? How about all of those metabolic pathways covered in biochem? Oh yes, they are relevant, and they are exactly what companies want to know if you know. I hope to perform my first real experiment tomorrow now that orientation is over and all of the required documents are in their place.

Most of the days here in Cambridge have been cloudy and comfortable, quite the opposite as I am told by friends and family still in El Paso. Weekdays are not filled with as much sightseeing as I had anticipated but the material and topics in lab are truly enticing. There are so many new concepts to grasp and every bit of information is vital to the drug development process. By the end of the 10 weeks I hope I will still have the will to tackle such daunting courses as P. Chem or Cal 3.

In closing, however, here's hoping for a Celtic win tonight, a USA win tomorrow and an eventful weekend on the town.

3 comments:

  1. Cal 3 is just Cal 2 in 3-D! WOOHHHHHH

    Just wait till you get to paramaterized closed curve line integrals. SoS

    What are mechanisms or metabolic pathways?
    I'm assuming metabolic pathways imply the transfer of energy along various biological channels?

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  2. Mechanisms, as in the proposed transitions taken when a starting material such as a carboxylate turns into another molecule such as acetic acid or an amide.

    Metabolic pathways sometimes can be viewed as a transfer of energy system, but a more general concept of pathways is more relevant here. One small molecule invokes a certain response in the cell from a protein, which causes a chemical change in another molecule, which goes off to cause a conformational change in another protein, etc.

    Too much mind :p

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  3. not a carboxylate, an anhydrate... :o

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