Ana Tsai is a PhD student in Biology at MIT from Stockton, California.

(0:30) What was your childhood like?

(3:25) Growing up with mixed heritage

(9:50) Smell of freshly picked tomatoes

(11:57) Did you ever imagine becoming a grad student?

(15:18) Researching immortality

(20:24) What do you do on a daily basis, Zelda protein

(24:30) Humans (and fruit flies) are basically a donut

(25:10) Optogenetics

(28:40) Generalizing from fruit flies to other species

(32:00) Setting goals in grad school

(34:20) Teaching and connecting with students

(42:00) Breaking out of bubbles

(51:00) Bees are really cute

(55:00) Potlucks with friends

(57:15) Where do you see yourself going after grad school?

(1:07:00) What would you tell someone who’s thinking about going into research?