Learning, Coding, and Experiments: September
Read to see some learnings from the past month, some stuff I've done, and to (hopefully) gain some value recommendation-wise.
Hey!
My friend the pony couldn’t sing a lullaby yesterday. It was sort of sad, so I asked her why: she was feeling a little horse.
Welcome back to my newsletter. Hope you had a fun September.
For those who don't know, I'm Nina Khera. You may have met me during a meeting, or at the latest networking event in Boston. I'm a 15-year-old human longevity researcher who's working on projects from topics spanning cellular senescence (zombie cells) to epidermolysis bullosa (skin disease)!
This month I’ve been focusing on Biotein, beginning school, coding a lot more, and working with Youth STEM Matters on editing scientific articles.
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Biotein
This month, we’ve won an Emergent Ventures grant, confirmed our test protein choices, planned (very extensively) and begun our initial development experiments, done all that incorporation and stock assignment/legal stuff, and planned the rest of our experiments and development timeline.
It’s been a really great month, and we’ve gotten a lot done in scientific, funding-based, and legal ways. Next month, our goals are to finish up the initial experiments, begin development (if we get good results, otherwise reconsider proteins and do more studies based on changes made), and tie up loose ends with our product/make some pivotal decisions.
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Mindsets and Philosophy
Here are some thoughts I’ve been having!
The most interesting person in a conversation is always the other person. Okay, not always. But most of the time, I find this true. Humans love talking about themselves - it’s probably evolutionary or something (every trait seems to be), but the most interesting discoveries (in my opinion) lie in when we can overcome that want and spend our time asking others open-ended questions (which then lead to conversations and both people being very engaged). Also, overcoming that want seems to be a matter of self-discipline and being able to resist that temptation, so bonus points for the self-improvement folks!
Hope is essential to every fiber of our beings. I read an excerpt of an essay by Emerson recently, about how genius creates and man hopes - and then another excerpt of an essay by Baldwin that lightly touches on how essential hope is. It was interesting to see the contrasting viewpoints, but one thing that stuck with me was that both of what they were saying was true, but I felt that hope was trivialized in the Emerson essay. I fundamentally believe that hope is essential. I think that people often get into bad situations where there’s no clear path out, nor is there any refuge - but the only thing they hold onto is hope - the fact that they see a little bit of light (but it’s still hard to get out).
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Coding!
I’ve been coding. A lot. Games like Minesweeper, Blokus, a treasure hunt-ish game, Chutes and Ladders, and more. Let me know if you want to try playing one - or have any game suggestions (those are ALWAYS appreciated)!
I’ve also invented my own games, like the treasure hunt one. It’s so fun to be creative and come up with those types of ideas!
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Knowledge Bytes
Here are some recommendations from the month!
- Funny article: Winners Wake Up Early: Every Article I’ve Written About My Morning Routine by Alex Baia
- Interesting question: Can we ever really know everything? If not, where is the threshold for knowledge?
- Delicious recc: Any fruit-based salsa! Yum.
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Shoutouts
Here are some fun shoutouts:
Zak Slayback - thank you for all your help with Biotein’s many many legal and scientific questions - it has been insanely helpful to work with you and the 1517 Fund!
Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Moody - thank you for your scientific advice in regards to Biotein’s development, and we’re really excited to keep learning from you and work with you!
Dr. Geraci - thank you for all your advice and your willingness to help Biotein out! We’ve been learning a lot from you.
Ben Nashman - thank you for all your regulatory and product advice - Biotein has learned so much and made so many good decisions because of your advice!
Biotein team - it has been an amazing experience to work with you guys and I am so excited for what’ll come next! :)
Yep, I noticed that these were entirely about Biotein… haha. Thank you to everyone reading this. Even if I didn't mention you this month. you probably helped me a lot. Thank you!
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Next Month
In October, I’ll be working on developing Biotein’s bio-age test, working on school, coding, writing more for YSM, and more!
Reach out to me if you want to talk about human longevity (or just life sciences in general) or anything else honestly!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-khera-115b5a175/
Personal Website: https://ninakhera.com/
Email: kheranina@gmail.com (or just reply to this email)