Biotech Campus Tulln – FHWN graduate makes a splash in the US

Anna Mrak always knew she wanted to go abroad and is now living her dream there. He undertook his first international study tour during his undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, USA. Wanting to study abroad during her master’s degree, Wiener searched for partner universities of the Neustadt University of Applied Sciences and found what she was looking for at SDU in Odense, thereby completing the third semester of her master’s degree in Denmark. .
“Through my semester abroad, I was able to gain impressions of Danish university life as well as make international connections,” she concluded after having her first international study experience.

USA – Biodata science bastion

He then went directly to the US, where the FHWN graduate already knew the Scribe Therapeutics staff, thus landing his internship. During this ten-month internship, he worked on his master’s thesis project and other minor projects at a well-known institution in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company develops molecular biology processes that cut a strand of DNA at a specific point and target it; Individual DNA building blocks can be inserted, removed, or replaced at the interface to discover treatments for genetic diseases.

Not only company social events, but personal trips to San Diego, Las Vegas and Hawaii also left lasting impressions. Thanks to her excellent work during her internship and the knowledge she gained there, the model student received a job offer from Scribe Therapeutics – initially for one year – where she has been working since April 2023.

The young scientist’s professional path is still open: “The Biodata Science degree prepared me well and I learned all the skills for my job. After I stay in America, I will look for a job in Europe – Scandinavia will be very interesting because of my good experiences in Denmark.”

Development of software for analysis of DNA mutations

Lower Austria’s master’s thesis was about “developing software that analyzes data to see if a gene-editing enzyme changes DNA at the intended locations.”

“Since the development of CRISPR/Cas-based technologies, there is hope that genetic diseases can be cured. This editing should be very precise and not interfere with other genetic sites. This is what Ms. Mrak did in her master’s project, in which she examined the quality and accuracy of gene editing. Biodata Science As the course is internationally recognised, we are proud when our students get valuable job opportunities,” says course director Milica Krunik.

Qualified bioinformaticians are in high demand given the ever-increasing amount of data being generated, as efficient analysis is no longer possible without programming knowledge.