As a freshman in FRI, I was very confused about which streams to put down for my application. There were almost 40 streams to choose from, and I had no idea what to look for in a stream. However, I had a friend who used to be in DIY Diagnostics who told me all about the stream. After talking to her, I applied for the stream, and I’m so glad I did!
Initially, I was very intimidated by the lab because I had no research experience coming into FRI. However, the environment in the stream was super welcoming and I always felt like I could ask my peers and lab mentors for help. I learned a lot of basic lab skills during my first semester in FRI that helped me with my project in the fall. In addition to doing wet lab tasks, we also spent some time learning how to code. This was one of my favorite parts of DIY – we developed a variety of skills that we could apply to many different aspects of our projects. It’s also really cool to see people apply those skills in different ways – for example, there are currently two groups using image recognition apps, one for rashes in pediatric patients and the other for pills.
Currently, for the project I’m working on, we are trying to see if there’s a difference in the amount and species of bacteria found on plastic credit cards versus metal credit cards. We were approached by creditcards.com to do this project, which is an independent comparison service for credit card companies. We are planning on sending them 40 sampling kits, and each kit will have the materials to sample one plastic credit card and one metal credit card. They will then send the samples back to us for DNA sequencing and analysis to see what kinds of bacteria were on the credit cards.
One of the biggest reasons being in DIY Diagnostics is great is because there are so many different ways to make a diagnostic. You can be as creative as you want with your project – there are students working with Waller Creek as well as students making an at-home ECG. I’m so glad I chose this stream because I have lots of peers I can depend on and a project I really enjoy working on.