Introduction
If you are an aspiring scientist that seeks to make a difference, then you have come to the right place. Hello there! I am Malven, a research assistant working for a gene editing company called Tessera Therapeutics here in Boston, and perhaps your future project lead. My passion to pursue a career in science first started when I was a young kid growing up in the peninsula of Malaysia (a country located in Southeast Asia), where I was deeply fascinated by the potential of mathematics and biology being connected - even though I could not fully grasp the concept behind it at the time. This moment of inspiration eventually led me to pursue my undergraduate studies over at The Ohio State University, where I majored in Biochemistry.
Nonetheless, at that time I realized there was a huge misalignment between my interest and my studies where I felt that with Biochemistry – there was a tendency for the course to be memorization heavy and lacked practical applications. Recognizing my interest lay elsewhere, I decided to apply for research positions within the university and eventually began my research journey under the mentorship of Dr. Spakowicz, where I studied the microbiome and its interactions with the immune system in cancer. My experience here was both overwhelming and different from what I was accustomed to, primarily because the research was computationally intensive, and I had no prior experience in that field before. Through continuous studying and practice, I successfully honed my skills in computational biology, developing a strong proficiency in analyzing high-throughput datasets and learned to use different open-source computational tools and packages to further investigate certain datasets.
It was through my research experience that I was captivated by the ingenuity of computational biology and novel sequencing technologies that I decided to pursue my career with the molecular assay team over at Tessera where I have successfully helped and supported my team through different novel assays like digital PCR and targeted amplicon sequencing to help determine the specificity and efficacy of our gene editing technology.
Molecular Biology Fellow
career options
Molecular Biology Fellow
skills
What are the main hard skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
In my opinion, this is one of the most important skills for a scientist to possess. Having the ability to distinguish between the technical and scientific aspects of certain molecular mechanisms, interactions and regulations are crucial in answering the experiment's hypothesis. I have achieved this through keeping myself up to date with recent literature and staying informed with the latest advancements of our competitors to help us in our own research progress.
The objective of conducting experiments is to test out your hypothesis. Therefore, it is very important to plan, design and execute your experiments to the finest details to avoid any potential limitations and biases. To achieve this, I personally have conducted a thorough literature review, optimized certain experimental procedure/steps, and have recorded all my experiments in a cloud-based electronic laboratory notebook like Benchling.
Results are what define if an experiment was deemed successful or not. In the science field, you might have to deal with different types of datasets ranging from flow cytometry datasets to high-throughput genomics datasets. To achieve this exploratory data analysis is required which includes preprocessing, filtering technical artifacts, and applying the right statistical analysis and using visualization plots to further understand and interpret the data.
What are the main soft skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
The working environment in biotech industries is fast-paced and can be very challenging and demanding at times. We typically deal with tight deadlines and there are always expectations to deliver. Having good management of your time through effective time blocking, project prioritization, and through the art of saying “no” are some of the keys for a work-life balance and to prevent yourself from burning out quickly. Sadly, I learned this the hard way.
Whether you are in academia or in industry, you’ll inevitably come across situations where troubleshooting and problem-solving are required. From my own experience, I have realized that it’s crucial to start by thoroughly reviewing the problem from the beginning and slowly working your way up from there. I would also suggest seeking opinions from senior scientists, reading up on relevant materials or articles, and developing an action plan before executing them.
Team communication is necessary to achieve functional organization. Effective communication can help to convey information correctly, thus minimizing errors and misinformation and helps to promote collaboration between teams. Some good examples of effective communication are active listening, providing and receiving feedback respectfully and expressing thoughts or ideas in a simple, clear, and straightforward manner.
Malvenderjit
’s personal path
Tell us about your personal journey in
Molecular Biology Fellow
:
My job search journey was far from a smooth ride. After completing my undergraduate degree, I was adamant to gain some work experience before considering graduate school to pursue my studies. At that point of time, I realized I was facing a significant challenge due to my limited wet-lab experience. Like many of my fellow undergrads, I was barred from the lab due to safety concerns when the global pandemic struck us in 2020. On top of that, as an international student myself, I was dealing with a limited time frame to secure a job. It was at this very moment I began to worry about my future, but I did not give up. I vividly remember mass-applying to over 100 positions one late night, with the hope of receiving at least a few callbacks. Fortunately, my efforts paid off, I was selected for several interviews before securing my employment with Tessera. The interview processes were rigorous, so I continuously prepped myself by practicing my delivery, researching the companies and academic labs that I was selected for an interview, and brushed up on my wet-lab and dry-lab skills. Despite the challenging selection process, where I was tested both on general interview questions and technical questions, the journey was rewarding as I have learned and gained so much experience over the past three years with my current employer.
What would you tell your younger you regarding building your current career?
To be honest with you, I’m unsure if I could offer my younger self some advice. Nevertheless, what I would say is to try to broaden your horizons as much as possible. This means seeking out new learning experiences, honing your skills, networking more, and most importantly, staying persistent. There will be many ups and downs throughout your career, but these are the years when you will learn more about yourself, your work and your environment. At your lowest moment, try to embrace the challenges that come along as this will help you grow and succeed in the long run. Do not give up easily as there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Trust your instincts and always believe in yourself.
Final thoughts & tips
I hope this career article has provided you with some perspective and insights into the journey of a junior biotech researcher. I’ll end by sharing one of the best pieces of advice that I have received this year from a mentor of mine, with a bit of my own twist: “Life can be stressful sometimes, but what matters is how you react and make the best out of every situation”.
Resources to dig in more
bioRxiv
Good source for unpublished preprint articles/manuscripts in life sciences.
GitHub
GitHub is an excellent tool for open-source projects and packages required to use in data analysis.
Coursera
Coursera offers different courses and certificate program in statistical analysis, data science, and bioinformatics. These courses sometimes range from beginner to advanced level.
IDT (Integrated DNA Technologies)
The IDT website is a good source to learn more on assay design, as a library dilution calculator, and many more
