Lab Setup for the Lorsch Lab

艾特肯博士和我分别于7月和8月抵达NIH。我们一直在努力建立实验室。艾特肯博士一直在订购必要的设备和试剂，我们一直在处理行政问题。我小组的其余成员是在10月底从约翰霍普金斯大学搬到这里的。我们的实验室位于49号楼2楼。 我的实验室工作的简单描述如下： Lorsch实验室研究遗传信息翻译成蛋白质 蛋白质是人体的主要工作。它们是几乎所有活动所必需的，从肌肉运动到大脑功能，消化和血液中的氧气运输。蛋白质的配方存在于我们的基因中，而将这些遗传信息翻译成蛋白质是生物学中最关键的过程之一。 但是如果翻译没有得到适当的控制，细胞可以不受控制地生长并形成癌性肿瘤。翻译也是一个安全漏洞：病毒通过劫持负责翻译的机器来感染我们的细胞，迫使它组装病毒蛋白而不是细胞蛋白。 Lorsch实验室研究翻译如何开始。每当身体需要一个新的蛋白质分子时，细胞就会构建一个巨大的分子装置，能够阅读一个基因，并在短短几分钟内制造出相应的蛋白质。实验室里的研究人员正在研究这个装置是如何一件一件地组装起来的。该实验室还利用这一基础工作来鉴定可能影响翻译过程的化合物，并作为治疗癌症或病毒感染的新药。 在参观洛尔施实验室的过程中，你会亲眼看到研究人员如何在试管内重建翻译机器，以及他们如何剖析生命核心事件的分子运作。

Dr. Aitken and I arrived at NIH in July and August, respectively. We have been working to set the lab up. Dr. Aitken has been ordering the necessary equipment and reagents and we have been dealing with administrative issues. The remainder of my group moved here from Johns Hopkins near the end of October. Our lab is located on the 2nd floor of Building 49. A lay description of my lab's work is given below: Lorsch Lab Studies Translation of Genetic Information into Proteins Proteins are the body's workhorses. They are necessary for virtually every activity, from muscle movement to brain function, digestion, and oxygen transport in the blood. The recipes for proteins are in our genes, and the translation of this genetic information into proteins is one of biology's most critical processes. But if translation is not properly controlled, cells can grow unchecked and form cancerous tumors. Translation is also a security vulnerability: Viruses infect our cells by hijacking the machinery responsible for translation, forcing it to assemble viral proteins instead of cellular ones. The Lorsch lab studies how translation begins. Each time the body needs a new protein molecule, the cell constructs an enormous molecular apparatus capable of reading a gene and churning out the corresponding protein in mere minutes. Researchers in the lab are investigating how this apparatus is assembled piece by piece. The lab is also leveraging this fundamental work to identify chemical compounds that might affect the translation process and serve as new drugs to treat cancer or viral infection. During a visit to the Lorsch lab, youll see firsthand how researchers recreate the translation machinery inside a test tube and how they dissect the molecular workings of an event central to life.