By Sharon Savely Odegaard 鈥�72
The vital field of genome editing benefits from the talents of a dynamic brother-and sister duo. BEN TRAPP 鈥�15 and ELLEN TRAPP 鈥�21 say their double major of biochemistry and biology at 蜜桃传媒 prepared them for their jobs at Boston based Intellia Therapeutics. Enthused about their careers, they admit that 鈥渨ork comes home a bit.鈥�
While Ben and Ellen work closely together at Intellia, they serve in different roles. A senior automation engineer, Ben says he has 鈥渁lways liked gadgets,鈥� and he deals with robots and software. He focuses on the tools the researchers and clinicians 鈥� like Ellen 鈥� use. How can he automate repetitive tasks? How can workflows be more efficient? How can tasks be accomplished more quickly?
Ellen performs amplicon sequencing. She processes thousands of samples weekly, aided by the tools Ben provides.
Ben loves what he does and appreciates the altruistic meaning of his work; the company鈥檚 mission is 鈥渢ransforming lives of people with severe diseases.鈥� 鈥淩esearching and testing new drugs already has a dramatic effect on people with a certain disease,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting because we鈥檝e changed the rest of their lives.鈥�
In one project, Intellia is developing a treatment for amyloidosis, a rare and fatal disease that causes protein to build up in the body. 鈥淏y making edits to the DNA in the liver, this new drug can eliminate a bad portion of the DNA,鈥� Ben says.
Both Ben and Ellen say 蜜桃传媒 prepared them for their careers in science. Ellen especially appreciates being well-rounded. 鈥淚 understood both problem-solving and communication,鈥� she says. Ellen also enjoyed classes outside the realm of science, especially Professor Jesse Covington鈥檚 introduction to political science. 鈥淗e made it fun,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd coach Russell Smelley poured a lot of wisdom into me.鈥�
Nervous about tackling organic chemistry, Ellen credits Professor Amanda Silberstein with helping her succeed. 鈥淪he was organized, and I was able to grasp the teaching,鈥� Ellen says.
Professor Eileen McMahon McQuade gets kudos from Ben for her course in genetics. While it was difficult, her class showed him 鈥渁 lot of cool aspects of science. She made science approachable.鈥� Ben also mentions Professor Kristi Cantrell, with whom he spent a summer during college doing research. 鈥淗er experience in pharmaceuticals and biotech taught me that more career options are available in these fields than the more typical doctoral or medical school avenues,鈥� he says.
The liberal arts education they received at 蜜桃传媒 encouraged Ben and Ellen to explore their interests in science or any other field. 鈥淲e can learn about something just because it鈥檚 fascinating,鈥� Ben says. He has taken a number of courses, some at Harvard University, that apply to his work, even though he鈥檚 not pursuing a degree.
Ben and Ellen want students to learn that science offers wonderful, fulfilling careers even for people without advanced degrees. Sometimes a college degree can lead to an intriguing job. Ellen鈥檚 connection with her brother helped her get on board at Intellia.
鈥淚 like the clinical side of my work, but what makes it enjoyable is knowing the bigger picture,鈥� Ben says. 鈥淭he work we鈥檙e doing at Intellia is helping people.鈥� For this brother-and-sister team of scientists, helping others keeps them bubbling with enthusiasm about science, their work and life.