1. Two things that I’ve learned are as follows: I’ve learned about the concept of self-regulation and have found myself being more conscious about learning for me, rather than because I feel like I have to. I’ve also learned about the difference between specialization and determination, and how these are both different from differentiation (I used to think that they were all pretty much the same thing.) Of course, I’ve learned more than this as well.
2. The second thing I learned fits into my wanting to learn about how cells can be so specially adapted for a certain task. Knowing the difference between these terms is a very beginning bit to learning how complex organisms can arise, as these terms are fundamental vocabulary that I needed to understand before going forwards.
3. I think the most challenging aspect of the course is discussions, and coming up with experiments to investigate questions. I find that I can think up broad ideas for what I would want to accomplish in a potential experiment, but I get stuck when having to think up specific techniques to do so. I will have to review techniques such as CHiP-seq going forward. The most surprising aspect of the course is how much I look forward to it! I feel like I really enjoy learning about epigenetics, and I didn’t expect to find it so interesting.