STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Cells are the building blocks of our life. There are a trillion cells in a human adult that function
and co-ordinate together to keep a person healthy and functioning. A minute dysfunction in a few
cells can cause a person to develop diseases. It is fascinating to observe cells; despite their
difference from one another they are still interdependent. In a society each individual has his
own qualities and works independently yet, each of them are dependent on the other in a way for
their efficient functioning like the role of nephrons in a human body is done by a sanitary worker
in a society, work of mitochondria (energy producing) is done by farmers and so on. The human
body is a complex machine which has within itself a microscopic version of the entire world
(75% of the earth and the human body has water as its main constituent), a curiosity developed in
me to know more about the working of the human body. Thus began my quest to become a
biologist.

My first understanding of cancer biology began when my professor Dr XXX described cancer as
a condition rather than a disease. Cancer is a condition in which cells grow rapidly with less
differentiation and thus forming lumps slowly spreading throughout the body and eventually
absorbing all the energy and causing the normal cells to die due to starvation. I was intrigued by
the amount of damage that could be caused when there was a change in a single nucleotide of the
DNA and the series of events that were triggered by this change. It was during this period that I
had an opportunity to listen to lectures given by eminent scholars and also had access to a
number of research journals and was able to learn more about the current developments in the
field.

During my undergraduate study I also had an opportunity to study experimental nano- bioscience
as one of my elective papers where I learnt a number of imaging techniques such as confocal
microscopy and have been able to learn to use this technique to view live and dead cells. I have
also had exposure to techniques in thin film technology, biochemistry and basics of bio-
informatics which might aid in my future research.

I had a chance to go to Cancer Institute, Adyar in Chennai (TN) during an educational visit, a
well established and famous government institute which conducts research and also has a
hospital facility to treat the patients. Here was my first encounter with people suffering from
cancer. I came across infants who were suffering from terminal stages of this disease and the
sufferings of their parents. I was really moved by their plight and was inclined towards pursuing
research in this field. I also had a chance to observe a biopsy and the various techniques with
which the cancer cells were analyzed. My second encounter with this disease was in my personal
life when my grandfather died due to cancer. I was able to observe the changes that occurred in a
person over a period and the pain caused by current chemo and radio therapeutic methods of
treatment. This further increased my understanding of the disease and motivated me to pursue
research as a future career.

Seminars were a perfect opportunity for me to explore my field of interest and were instrumental
in giving me a competitive edge over my peers. I have always taken a keen interest in making
presentations and have enabled me to obtain a deeper understanding of the researched topic. My
seminar on Cell migration in breast cancer cells defines my interest in cancer biology and was
a review of the different kinases which caused Met receptor signaling and the cascade of events
causing migration of breast cancer cells.

I have also had the opportunity to work for a few months as an intern on methods to develop a
metal incorporated polymer which can be later targeted onto the cancer cells and then destroyed
by either controlled drug delivery. Use of ferromagnetic metals like iron incorporated in the
polymer may help in destroying the cancer cells by using a strong magnetic field.

Cancer is a condition which prevails at large all over the world and hence has been the area of
research during recent years and has been receiving a lot of attention with a number of
techniques being developed in the related fields. I want to be a part of the scientific society
which is rapidly advancing, discovering new solutions and techniques for the betterment of the
society and I envision graduate studies a path in this direction.

I am applying for admission to graduate study in Cancer biology. This is a very important stride
towards attaining my goal of pursuing research and developing novel methods in treating cancer.