On May 8-14, 2023, I was on a national internship at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn, under the substantive supervision of Dr. Bartosz Fotschki and Mgr. inż. Dorota Napiórkowska.

During this week I have been working on samples that will be used for publications planned in the course of my Individual Research Plan. I performed the procedure of RNA isolation from tissue (here specifically rat intestines) using the trizol method, then, after isolating the genetic material, I measured its amount in the sample using the NanoDrop device. After measuring, mgr. inż. performed calculations with me to adjust the samples to the next stage of the analysis. In the following days I was acquainted with the procedure of transcribing RNA into DNA, which in turn was used to perform the PCR procedure.

At the very end, during the PCR procedure, I was shown the second laboratory where the tests are carried out, including the extremely modern and advanced equipment for automatic pipetting of samples into a 384-well plate, which was then sent for further testing. It was an extremely intensive internship in terms of knowledge and skills, thanks to which I learned new techniques that will enable me to further implement my Individual Research Plan.

DVM Aleksandra Marzec