Rain, Product, and Reading: My April
Read to see some learnings from the past month, some stuff I've done, and to gain some value recommendation-wise.
Hey!
I was reading a book on helium the other day. I couldn’t put it down.
Welcome back to my newsletter. Hope you had a not-too-rainy April (then again, let’s feed the plants).
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 working (as always) on Biotein, coding, summer planning, work with the Academy for Health and Lifespan research, and playing/making music!
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Biotein
A lot has happened this month… and I mean a lot. We brought on a technical cofounder, incorporated, revamped our pitch deck, finished designing our prototype & creating our reader app, and finished our testing proposal.
First and foremost, we brought on Dr. Elena Seranova to help us on our product and launch (soon)!! She’s been incredibly helpful, with good feedback, knowledge, and connections in the industry.
We also revamped our pitch deck/applied to more funding competitions! There were a lot of versions exchanged, but we’re almost done our final one :). If you know of any investors/competitions that may be interested, let us know!
Additionally, we designed our prototype dimensions and molecules-wise and created the reader to read our prototype’s result. Because we were able to incorporate, we signed contracts (NDAs) with some manufacturers to find one that fits our needs. We also made a testing proposal for our product - if you know anyone who could help with testing, let us know!
Next month, we want to find a testing partner, raise funding, and begin producing our first version of the test. We’re very excited for all that’s to come.
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Mindsets and Philosophy
Here are some thoughts I’ve been having!
Should you own an image of you? I’ve been thinking about that a lot, especially after I went on a deep dive into NFTs. Maybe. Formally whoever took the picture owns it, but should you own a picture of you? I think there should be some sort of partial ownership as a standard - you are the person in the picture, maybe someone else took it, but you are the subject (and have spent years on your appearance and self shown in the picture). Then again, does the artwork in a museum own itself? No. I’m very conflicted, as you can tell.
Is the reason we aren’t doing much about climate change because humans can’t really think long-term? I mean, I know it’s pretty tough for people I know (and me) to think about what’ll happen 10 years in the future, and since climate change effects won’t be immediate, is it possible humans just don’t realize the urgency? Also, is another reason the adoption of convenient explanations about the natural progression of the planet? These explanations remove stress for us, which could cause us not to think about the climate much.
On the note of stress, how do you maximize its positive effects? It’s a natural response to a big event, and actually can help prepare you (until it goes South). It’s almost as if you need to find the right amount to think about events so you won’t be too stressed/in your head but will be somewhat stressed. How much should you think about certain things to hit that sweet spot?
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Hunkered down in front of my computer… coding
This has become a regular occurrence for me, so this will become a regular section :). I’ve been playing around with GUIs a lot recently, and I’ve made a semi-real looking Connect 4 (pictured at the top) and Othello!
If you have any game/coding project ideas (in Java), let me know! It’s very fun to spend some time tinkering with it.
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Knowledge Bytes
Here are some recommendations from the month!
- Topic to research: Methane’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. It may be more important to reduce than carbon dioxide! Reducing it isn’t that hard (might have to give up some food items though).
- Best non-dairy ice cream: Oatly’s raspberry swirl! 100% recommended. I might have left a review too.
- Interesting technology: NaNotics - it’s a new way to treat cancer and prevent the negative effects of senescence. Really fascinating!
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Shoutouts
Here are some fun shoutouts:
Elena - bringing you on as a cofounder has been amazing for Biotein to grow - we have learned so much in such little time.
Dr. Hawthorne - thank you for chatting the other day, it was great to learn from you and about your work at NaNotics.
Dr. Johnston - thank you so much for calling and giving me really interesting and helpful advice about the future.
Arthur Li - thank you for your advice about picking a path and the future/talk you recommended!
Dr. David Setboun - thank you for your insights into the field of longevity, and the opportunity to make an impact at the Academy (for Health and Lifespan Research).
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 May, I’ll be (again) working on Biotein’s bio-age test, going through final exams, working with the Academy for Health and Lifespan research, preparing for the summer, and coding!
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)