Consequences of COVID-19 on my experiment of gene overexpression in beans

Abstract

My name is Salma Meléndez and I am currently a graduate in Agrogenomic Sciences. In March 2020, when COVID-19 was detected in Mexico, I was in my eighth semester of my undergraduate degree. At that time, he had an experiment of overexpression of a gene in bean roots, in order to explore its function during symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria. Unfortunately, the laboratory and the entire campus canceled their face-to-face activities in order to reduce the risk of contagion. An alternative was to take the experimental plants to my house to give the proper care, however, the situation became difficult as I did not have the space or the required conditions at home. On the other hand, other research centers with which we had collaboration agreements also canceled access, such is the case of the Optical Research Center, where we used the confocal microscope to detect subcellular location of proteins. The closure of institutions allowed me to write theoretical parts of my thesis, however, the experimental phase was definitely affected for at least six months. The experiment with the plants was almost completely lost. In the subsequent months I had the opportunity to re-enter my institution; however, under strict conditions and on staggered days, which made certain measurements that require daily continuity difficult. Currently, the laboratory is not as it used to look, full of colleagues sharing results and difficulties, exchanging advice and even certain materials. I think the pandemic has pushed us to do our work more individually and slowly. Consequently, my degree was delayed and transferred from 2020 to 2021. There are still many challenges to overcome, although activities have not been fully restored, science does not stop and we have found a way to face it, slowly but surely.