Re: Life / On Proteins, Writing, and Responsibility
My life condensed into variably interesting posts on the internet
Welcome to Re: Life. I’m Aaryan, a high-schooler based in Sudbury, Canada, and this is the weird place on the internet where I chronicle my thoughts, life updates, and biotechnology projects - from medical devices to research.
Why a newsletter? Because, in the unlikely event where aliens take over the universe, this might end up somewhere in a museum of lost civilizations.
Now that you know my motivations are pure, let’s begin.
What I’m Doing
:// Finished up university applications over the winter break (if you’re wondering why I’ve been MIA this month, that’s more or less why).
Was it stressful? Yes. Did writing, deleting, and rewriting the same essay make me question my writing abilities? Perhaps. But now that I’m “done”, I’m glad that I was able to go to battle with myself, and somehow win.
:// AlphaFold, as expected, is extremely accurate at modelling how proteins fold. Or at least, some of them. It turns out that a class of proteins called intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) still regularly stump AlphaFold, despite being critical to understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.
Right now, I’m researching X-ray crystallography (a technique we use to understand protein structure) and how we can better model IDPs - hopefully with applications in disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Stay tuned for more info.
:// After a two-week long grading, I received a black belt. For context, I began karate when I was six (it’s been almost eleven years), but since my family moved cities so often, I’ve never stayed in a dojo long enough to get to that level. Until now.
(Fun fact: I practice a style of karate called Goju Ryu, which originated in the Okinawan islands off Japan. If you’ve ever watched The Karate Kid, it was the inspiration for Miyagi Do).
Brain Food
Greek Philosopher Horace on the paradox of power:
”Force without wisdom crumbles under its own weight.”
Our skills are tools to influence the world around us. Like knives, their value depends entirely on how you use them.
It’s one thing to be strong. It’s another to be strong for the right reasons.