Doctoral student on the road - first chapter

First chapter of a mini-blog describing Roi Zatsna's journey to lecture on his work in the field of tissue engineering at the XNUMXth European Congress for Medical and Biomedical Engineering in Antwerp

It all started six years ago, when I started studying for a bachelor's degree in biology at the Technion. It is difficult to imagine a more beautiful science than the one that was revealed to me during those studies. The body of each of us is made up of thousands of billions of cells, each of which contains millions of small machines that break down food and fuel into energy for the cell - and even repair machines that have broken down, or make new ones. There was already someone who said that 'the human body is the most wonderful machine of all', without understanding at all how the cells work. What would that person say about if he saw the master order that exists in every cell of our body?

But I digress. This will probably happen a lot during the writing in the coming days, because this document is supposed to be a kind of mini-blog, describing my travels to the Fourth European Congress for Medical and Biomedical Engineering in Belgium, or for short - EMBEC, to give a lecture there about my work and the patent we issued as part of the work. It is not supposed to be an article or journalistic news, but to serve more as a 'travel diary', and maybe even help other young researchers who do not know what to expect from a conference abroad.

Anyway, it all started six years ago, when I started my degree at the Technion. I didn't know then what I was expecting - I just wanted to learn and enjoy the learning experience. Biology slowly captivated me, but the research in biology laboratories discouraged me. Currently, many laboratories in the faculties of life sciences deal with basic science and nothing else. The researchers are trying to better understand how a certain protein works, or the exact way in which DNA is transcribed into RNA, or any other 'esoteric' screw within the great machine that is the cell body. And although there is a lot of magic in that, and every little bit of knowledge allows us to better understand nature and manipulate it for our needs, it was not the destiny I wanted. I didn't want to explore, but to create. I aspired to take the existing knowledge - limited as it may be - about the cells and the molecular machines inside them and use it to create innovative medicines, new machines and energy sources that will propel humanity into the 21st century.

Quite obviously I was young in those days and impatient. Actually, I am still like that and I hope that the passage of years will not sweep away the mantle of youth from me - at least from the inside. But with gut feelings it's hard to argue, so I decided not to pursue a master's degree in biology. I was looking for another degree where I could pay for it, and then luck struck and I discovered (on the 'Hidan' website) that the Technion received huge capital from private donors and the government, to open a program for advanced degrees in the fields of nanotechnology and nanoscience. And I, who was already deeply immersed in dreams of molecular machines and small, invisible robots breaking down air pollution into carbon dioxide and water, how could I resist the temptation?

And so it turned out that within a few months I was already a registered member of the program, after passing an admission committee of four distinguished professors who examined me from all angles and declared that I was indeed worthy and qualified to study the nanotechnology subjects, but on one condition. Since the program was multidisciplinary, students from all faculties were admitted to it and all were required to complete subjects from different fields. The physicists had to take courses in biology, engineering and chemistry. The biologists had to take courses in engineering, chemistry and physics and so on. Most of the people came from faculties where the duration of the degree was four years, so they had already covered the required fields. I, who came from a three-year faculty, could not boast of the mathematical and engineering background that most of the people admitted to the program had, but I was determined to complete the necessary knowledge during the degree and not let such trifles stand in my way. Young, did I say?

The first semester of studies passed quickly. I skipped HADUA 1 (Differential and Integral Calculus, as the name suggests - a difficult and troublesome course) and enrolled directly in HADUA 2. I studied the materials engineering subjects that I was missing and even got a passing grade in quantum theory. For a large part of the successes in the courses, I owe thanks to my wonderful partner, who helped me as a 'private teacher' in all the subjects of engineering, physics and mathematics.

When the time finally came to choose a laboratory, I opened a field of research that combined two respected researchers at the Technion: Professor Eil Sussman from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. The research attempted to open a relatively new front in tissue engineering, by using a unique method for spinning nanofibers - fibers that are ten thousand times smaller than the thickness of a human hair. From the fibers it was possible to create a structure that would support the cells growing on its surface and inside it and differentiating to form a real tissue. Eyal provided the laboratory to create the fibers and Shulamit provided the human embryonic stem cells that will be seeded on top of the scaffold. And again, how could one resist the temptation to participate in such exciting research, which may lead to life-saving developments?

And that's how I came to the field of tissue engineering, which I have focused on ever since. Since the beginning of the research, I managed to publish one article in the scientific journal Tissue Engineering Part C: Methods and issue a patent for a new method that may advance the field of tissue engineering. Not a big deal, admittedly, but science is based on a series of small steps, and I'd like to think that my invention and that of my supervisors will advance the field by one more small step.

So I guess you already want to know what kind of invention it is. Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I will be presenting the new invention at the Medical and Biomedical Engineering Congress. The bad news is that you, dear readers, will probably not be there to hear her - and I'm going to try to keep the tension and not find out until the day of the lecture what things are supposed to be. Of course, if curiosity eats and gnaws at you, you can search the net for my name in English and find the article. But isn't it a shame to ruin the surprise?

And to sum up, I am now sitting at Ben-Gurion Airport, with my trusty Lafi plugged in and ticking off the first chapter of the travel diary. It's six in the evening, and my flight leaves for Brussels at one in the morning. I have another seven hours to spend here, but between us: there is a network, there is Lafi. What else is needed?

The plane is expected to land at five in the morning in the land of ice, snow, beer and chocolate and I hope to arrive by train from Brussels airport to Antwerp. If we assume that I arrive at seven in the morning in Antwerp, then I will have a good few more hours of waiting until I can stay in the room reserved for me in the hotel. I hope to find a small and warm cafe with a wireless network, where the phrase "hot water, hot dish" is known. Most likely the next chapter of the diary will be written in that cafe, and the general plan is to write a new chapter every day. So don't miss the next episode of... "PhD student on the road!"

Roi Tsezana, Netavg, 18:01 p.m., 21.11.08.