GRF Shiv came to speak to us during this Rose Cafe about Organoids. Being a STEM major, I was surprised that I have never heard about this new technology. The way Shiv described it was creating mini organs that have the same functions as the organs themselves. I personally find this extremely fascinating that one tiny organoid can have the same functions as say, our lungs. What’s even more fascinating is what the organoids can do. Shiv mentioned how organoids can be used to research how the body responds to different drugs and therapies thus it is a growing field in the biotech world. I am excited to see where organoids can take us in the upcoming years.

It was also interesting to learn about Shiv’s background and why he came to Cornell to do research. He is working on his PHD in biomedical engineering and researching how organoids can be used to learn more about antibodies and what they fight against. This was a great opportunity to not only get to know a GRF, but to learn more about the work that he does and the difference he is making.

This weeks Rose Cafe with Shiv was very interesting. I do not have much knowledge in the field of science so a lot of the talk did go over my head but the main point was very well communicated. I actually had Shiv as a guest for my Expository Writing course in rose house and you can tell how passionate Shiv is when he talks about his work. He works with organiods which essential are small organs that mimic the makeup and function of our bodily organs. Shiv talked about his place in the BioMed Engineering program for his PhD candidacy. He plans to even go to medical school after his PhD in order to provide patients with the best specialized care in the future. By using organoids he can research was in which the body may respond to different things. In this way new drugs, treatment therapies or cure can be found through this research. Shiv specifically explained that his research is about lymph nodes and how B cells make antibodies. I look forward to the medical successes of Shivs future!

Last week I attended a cafe hosted by my GRF, Shiv. He explained how he is currently pursuing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering and upon completing this feat, he will be applying to medical school. He also studied Biomedical Engineering during his undergraduate career at Boston University, so he has many years of experience in this field. He explained how organoids are basically mini organ models in a dish that aim to mimic a target organ’s functionality and structure. There is huge interest in these models to understand how the local environment affects how organs develop, undergo processes, or change into a disease state. His organoid model specifically aims to model the lymph node to understand how B cells make antibodies for therapeutic purposes. I was amazed to hear that he is the first one to successfully make B cells turn into antibody-secreting cells outside the body. He explained how you can take a Zika virus, put it in his system, and form antibodies to make a widely distributable cure in a matter of 4 days. Basically, he uses the organoids to make different environments since each patient is different. From these environments, he can predict which drugs the patient will respond to and make patient-specific treatment plans. In short, he’s using organoids to make cancer treatment personalized, and I hope he can make difference in the field. I’m so proud of his work, and I can’t what to see he will accomplish by the end of his PhD.

Last week, I attended Shiv’s Rose Cafe about organoids. Overall, I really enjoyed the conversation about his work. Shiv spoke about his research growing “mini organs” which could be used for developing antibodies and patient-specific cancer treatments. Thinking about how cancer and autoimmune diseases have affected my own family, I am encouraged by the prospect of new and improved ways to treat these conditions. Not to mention, He did a great job of making the talk approachable, and he made some very comical and appropriate analogies. As a person who was once very interested in this field, I was intrigued by his talk. While I have a basic fundamental STEM background, it is always interesting for me to learn about popular methodology, and current work going on in the field since I decided to pursue linguistics instead of biochemistry. His work is very important, and I found it really encouraging to hear about how his research in particular could decrease the cost of certain medicines, which is a really critical issue in healthcare right now. Also, Shiv was very animated and excited about his work, and I always find that to be very refreshing when attending academic-oriented talks. I have really enjoyed the last few Cafes in which GRFs have shared their research with us- I think it has provided a great opportunity to learn about research outside of my own field, as well as get to know our GRFs!

I left last weeks Rose Cafe presentation and discussion led by the GRF Shiv with the understanding that organoids are essentially mini organs engineered in vitro. These can be used to develop and test treatments and therapies including those for some of the most pressing current health problems such as different types of cancer and addiction. While this discussion was interesting, after the discussion I was still curious and interested in broader ethical implications of this biotechnology: would organoid use for developing new treatments or more efficiently produce existing treatments raise the cost of these drugs or lower cost? What are some potential consequences or externalities, either positive or negative of this technology? I also appreciated that the speaker spoke a bit about his academic/ career trajectory and motivation for pursuing engineering graduate studies here before going to med school.

Cancer cancer cancer cancer
Why does no one have the answer?
Organoids organoids says Shiv
They can help us continue to live
We need antibodies to give
Organoids organoids and that in vitro culture
Those B cells producing antibodies ain’t gonna falter
Well maybe

What’s left to say?
The petri dishes
We rely on them so much
They give life to those stem things
Organizing into groups and rings
Where’s their identity?
Ah to help the world in this century
Well maybe

Well maybe not
The identity is dropped
But no one cares
We can do without
It’s special
It’s not special

Kind of like you no?
Special but not really?
If you’re a realist at least
Your identity is subsumed by the group identity
I mean let’s face it
Are there really any quasigroups out there

Organoid organoid
Sounds like groupoid
Or monoid
Centroid
Ellipsoid
Homoeoid
Algebroid
Paranoid
Longoid
Listoid

It’s hard to A-void
                    the-void
But it’s sometimes unavoidable
No
Don’t be a caterpillar in the wind
Like dandelions and roses
Ruining my PB&Jelly
Don’t drift along with the complacency of a human
In a sea of jelly
No I mean desert no I mean forrest no I mean space
Yes space

Get out of my space
But you deny property rights?
Was Nozick the first libertarian?
Of course!

But to minimize temporal law
What a minimization! No!
It must change, adapt, but always in accord with something higher
Distributive justice?
No! There is no transfer of justice! Justice is fixed
Only beholden by the mind’s eye
Says Augustine

But surely temporal law is just and in accordance with justice
And temporal law is like a foggy mist
It comes and lingers and then cease to exist
Ah so justice is subject to change
But no! Justice is an intelligible!

Augustine falls on his knees in agony
“That’s ok I’ll just write another book changing my views”
After all philosophy itself isn’t an intelligible, I mean how could it be?

Fill up your mind with knowledge!
Drain it like a sink and restart
This is philosophy, it comes and goes like waves

Cancer comes and goes in waves, no?
The peak is a resolution or a death
Maybe with organoids it can be a resolution
But with philosophy, it must always be death
For the only positive thing to say is death