On the Quest for a Cure R E NU MU KH ER J EE FIF T H-FORMER
One tiny flaw in an amino acid can change a person’s life. “It’s mind blowing,” Renu Mukherjee says. She’s been learning about protein structures in her AP Biology class. Just one permutation in an otherwise healthy body can alter how someone functions. “That moment made me love biology,” she says. “Everything I’ve learned on a molecular level has real life significance. I thought, ‘I could go into medicine and research, and I could fix that, and find a cure for this one tiny thing, and save someone’s life.’” The amino acid certainly changed Renu’s life. She’s a bookworm, lover of modern Russian poetry, and leader of two clubs: the Gay-Straight Alliance and the girl empowerment group WINC. Now, she’s charging toward a career steeped in biology. This summer, as part of Brooks’ Students on the Forefront of Science program, she’s interning at Massachusetts General Hospital. For seven weeks, she’ll research neuro-oncology along with other students, many of them already in medical school. “I’ve stopped thinking about wanting to get an awesome grade,” she says. “I want to learn so I can fully understand and create change.”
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