From a lab internship to a research journal

I went in to learn about genetics. I came out with a published paper.

It all began with my lab internship at MILS LABASSURE, where my mentor, Dr. Usha Dave, introduced me to the basics of genetics and inheritance, and I spent my days reading literature, learning how clinical records are kept, taking notes in patient meetings with the doctor present, and working through gene defects and a pedigree charting worksheet. Somewhere along the way, the questions I was asking started to look like a paper. So I went through notes on how to write a research paper, reviewed the existing literature, and wrote my own paper, “A Student’s Perspective: Down Syndrome, its Genetic Inheritance, Karyotype and Prevention,” with Dr. Dave’s guidance. It was published in Genetics and Molecular Research (GMR), 25 (13s), 2026. For me, it was proof that a curious student can go from sitting in a lab to contributing to the research conversation, and that what you learn by watching, asking and reading can become something others can read too.