ASV Part Deux

I had intended to post a recap of the meeting on a day-by-day basis, but I just ended up being too tired to write at the end of each day. There were so much going on, fantastic talks, good talks, bad talks, meeting new people, and catching up with old ones. The highlight of the meeting was, hands down, a talk give by MIT professor Angela Belcher. She is basically genetically engineering bacterial viruses, bacteriophages, to carry out physical processes. Her talk was mostly about how they have been able to use these phages to BUILD nanowires, which they then use to build bateries. While this may not sound too impressive, her lab has been able to build a battery, the size of a watch battery, that is able to power up an LED light by using phages. Yes, she has built a viral battery!

Besides getting lots of ideas for my own research, I was able to talk to several people about their postdoctoral experiences (good and bad) as well as catch up with old friends and collegues, while also making new friends and colleagues. It is quite amazing how small the world of viruses actually is, and how my life overlaps with so many people that have gone, or are going, through the process of building a career in science.

I will finish up by saying that my grad school mentor gave a great talk that made me feel incredibly appreciated. She presented quite a bit of my work, and Natalies, from our grad school years in her lab. Even though I am only a year removed from her lab, it felt so good to see my work in retrospect.

Thank you NRT.