profession much employment opportunities are available. I
profession for a high achieving student is considered comparatively inferior. So, he insulted me that day and instead encouraged me to pursue Medicine. I was intimidated as I was a child and soon I abandoned my dream of becoming a scientist, and chose to pursue Medicine in the future.
Not having a firm understanding of the society back then, I chose to do my intermediate afterwards in Medicine which, ironically, led me to read some of the topics regarding Biotechnology in our textbook. After four years of that particular incident at school, that was the day that I reinvented my deep passion for pursuing a Research degree in Biotechnology and thus eventually reconstructed my dream of becoming a ”Scientist”. And after my intermediate degree, I found myself in a Bachelor degree in Biotechnology regardless of all the resistance I had to face from the society, including my parents and peers.Getting into Biotechnology was a very difficult task. I had to entirely reconstruct my mental orientation towards pursuing a PhD degree. It was risky, as I was the only son of my father and I had to support my family as soon as possible and the most convenient way for me was to pursue medicine so that after five years, I would’ve been able to earn money so that I can support my family and myself.
That decision took its toll on me as the research sector especially in Molecular Biology in Pakistan is juvenile and not much employment opportunities are available. I had to go against the will of my parents as well as the whole society. I had to decide for Passion over Convenience, Struggle over Comfort, Biological research over Medicine, but a voice within me always persuaded that this decision would actually turn out to be for Greatness over Mediocrity. This mental struggle led me towards a downfall in my grades but eventually I secured a spot in BSc Agricultural Biotechnology and since, now, I was following my dream, I kept securing the top spot in batch with a 3.90 CGPA.
Now, in a bachelors program, I stumbled across the idea of ‘Genome Editing’. I remember, a very prestigious faculty member at our university named Dr. Sultan used the term ‘Gene drive’, and since I was the topper of my class, asked me to prepare a presentation on it. I searched the given topic and stumbled upon Guided Endonucleases like ZFN, CRISPR etc. and the more I read, the more I realized that this is what I should be pursuing later in my life. But the ground realities in Pakistan were eventually different.
In a struggling economy, coping with many problems, its’ hard to find money from the government tunneling towards the research sector. There are not many opportunities in Pakistan regarding the research sector. So, it was evident that if I had to pursue a research Master’s degree in order to make some ground-breaking impact, I’ll have to pursue my Masters abroad.Since then, I’ve researched multiple universities across the globe.
A professor of mine, then suggested me The King Abdullah University. I looked it up on the internet and came to know about its outstanding research record. It came out to be the best university in Citations par Faculty ranking and with an unmatched research profile. The more I explored the university, the more I realized how ideal would it be for me to pursue my graduate studies here. I came across the research of Dr.
Froejaker Jensen and Dr. Mo Li and read their work on utilizing CRISPR and other transposon based editing tools in C. elegans as well as the work on regeneration and stem cells respectively. The STATE-OF-THE-ART facilities in the Laboratory of Synthetic Biology and the outstanding equipment in the Genomics and Proteomics division in the Bioscience Research Lab would prove to be ideal for an impeccable PhD research.Also, the cultural diversity in the university really appeals to me as I’ve always wanted to encounter multiple nationalities, ethnicities and people from different backgrounds so that I can comprehend God’s greatness in the universal design. I’ve gone through the reviews and read about the student life of the university and I firmly believe that it would be ideal for me to live and work with such a diverse community from across the globe.
After completion of my PhD, I plan to pursue a post-doctorate to fulfill my primary aim of being an impeccable researcher and scientist. I always wanted to move the needle of the world forward by doing something extraordinary in science. All those scientists and their magnificent contributions in developing the modern era of science and technology have been engraved in my mind from my childhood.
My aim is that after completion of my studies, I will be able to develop a product using biotechnological and molecular biology techniques and then afterwards develop an industry around it. I’ve always dreamed to be an entrepreneur using biotechnological ground work.Apart from studies, I’ve been working with an NGO named ‘Pak-Turk’ in Pakistan where I’ve served as a Tutor as well as a Student supervisor so that I can teach and guide the students especially guiding them in fighting against the conventional societal norms of choosing a medical or an engineering profession. I firmly believe that everyone is made to serve a different purpose by God, and each and every one is gifted by a unique personality and talent. My primary effort is to recognize that inner potential and talent of my students and groom them in this manner so that they can pursue what they love, as
