Tse Explores the Boundary of Biology and Chemistry
“Reaching out into the unknown is exciting; that’s a very human thing wanting to have an experience that no one’s had before.” The scientific ethos of cooperation drew senior David Tse to explore biochemical research, both at Houghton and at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “Sometimes people think of scientists as working in a quiet basement away from the rest of the world. But science is really a collaborative effort,” Tse expressed, “I appreciate being around a lot of different scientists and learning about what they do.”
For Tse, research presents the challenge of the unknown, an effort that scientists from all disciplines are involved in together. Tse was ambivalent about Houghton as he applied, however one day after applying he woke up feeling certain that Houghton was the right choice. Before Houghton, Tse attended Dalat International School, a Christian high school in Penang, Malaysia. His mother encouraged him to apply to Houghton, but at the time Tse was uncertain, “I wasn’t sure initially if I wanted to do science at a Christian school. In my mind, Christians were very against studying evolutionary biology so I thought that studying biology at Houghton or any other Christian school would not be considered legitimate by graduate schools.”
Entering Houghton on the pre-medical track, and it was Tse’s exposure to collaboration opportunities with biology and chemistry faculty that sparked his interest in research. Tse was surprised that research opportunities were quite available despite Houghton’s small size. He first worked with Professor Jamie Potter, investigating RNA viruses in grapevines, and then moved on to chemistry research with Professor Karen Torraca through the Summer Research Institute where they worked to ameliorate the environmental impact of certain industrial chemical processes. These hands-on research opportunities helped prepare Tse to land an internship at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota this past summer.
At Mayo Clinic, Tse worked under Dr. Louis Maher, investigating the flexibility and structure of folded and looped DNA in baker’s yeast – a convenient model organism which is easy to grow. The technical description of their research is “Employing Chromatin conformation capture to investigate the role of high mobility group proteins in baker’s yeast gene looping,” however in more basic terms they sought to figure out how certain 3D structures of DNA and proteins – like loops – affect gene expression.
“David is super sassy but always willing to help those in need,” noted Tse’s friend, biochemistry major Grace Hollenbeck ‘16, “On multiple occasions he has taken the time to answer help me with homework or answer any questions that I may have had. He is intelligent and willing to work hard to achieve his goals.”
Tse commented, “I discovered my passion within an interdisciplinary approach combining various fields of science such as physics, chemistry and biology to comprehensively understand the mechanisms of different components of the body.” Biology is built upon chemical interactions, and investigating the chemical foundations of biology is where Tse sees himself working. “Part of me is very interested in cancer research.” Looking forward, David is interested in exploring biochemistry further in a PhD program; among other reputable schools, Mayo Clinic can certainly expect an application from him.
…
To hear more about Tse’s research at Mayo Clinic, he will be presenting on November 17 at 11:30 in the south end dining hall.
David Tse is a senior double major in biology & chemistry.