Empirical Bioscience Internship
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
The CMB Department’s graduate program at Grand Valley State University has two different emphases: Biotechnology or Research. The Biotechnology emphasis gives a more hands on experience in the work field by allowing students to work in a professional lab setting. I did my internship at Empirical Bioscience, formally known as Syzygy Biotech, from May 2013 through January 2014. Empirical Bioscience is a small startup company that is located on the 5th floor of CHS in downtown Grand Rapids. The main focus of Empirical Bioscience is to create products for the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. This included buffers, master mixes, and most importantly Taq Polymerase. The greatest challenge for me was working in a fast-paced environment where multiple projects were done at the same time. I had many different responsibilities in the company, but I was mainly involved in purifying Taq Polymerase. I purified many batches of Taq and Flashtaq, a modified version of Taq Polymerase, which were sold and are being used in biology labs across the country. I gained a lot of knowledge from working at Empirical Bioscience, including improvement of my laboratory skills, setting up shipping orders, create/improve protocols, test the products made, and most importantly, I learned how a biotechnology operates as a whole instead of being limited to just one aspect of the company.
Empirical Bioscience Internship
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
The CMB Department’s graduate program at Grand Valley State University has two different emphases: Biotechnology or Research. The Biotechnology emphasis gives a more hands on experience in the work field by allowing students to work in a professional lab setting. I did my internship at Empirical Bioscience, formally known as Syzygy Biotech, from May 2013 through January 2014. Empirical Bioscience is a small startup company that is located on the 5th floor of CHS in downtown Grand Rapids. The main focus of Empirical Bioscience is to create products for the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. This included buffers, master mixes, and most importantly Taq Polymerase. The greatest challenge for me was working in a fast-paced environment where multiple projects were done at the same time. I had many different responsibilities in the company, but I was mainly involved in purifying Taq Polymerase. I purified many batches of Taq and Flashtaq, a modified version of Taq Polymerase, which were sold and are being used in biology labs across the country. I gained a lot of knowledge from working at Empirical Bioscience, including improvement of my laboratory skills, setting up shipping orders, create/improve protocols, test the products made, and most importantly, I learned how a biotechnology operates as a whole instead of being limited to just one aspect of the company.