Profile – Christmas Lectures 2013

Education

I went to Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, Dorset and then Cardiff University for my degree. I did my PhD at Cardiff University and Kings College London.
Qualifications

I have GCSEs, A-levels, a degree in Biochemistry and a PhD.
Work History

Apart from Saturday jobs in various places I now work at Oxford University as a Postdoctoral research associate in Dr Alison Woollard’s lab
Current Job

At the moment I am investigating how cells proliferate (make more of themselves) or differentate (become specalised), with a particular interest in how this relates to cancer
Employer

Oxford University

My Work: Most days I poke worms to see if they are alive, feed them and maybe look at their cells under a microscope
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These are some plates of worms and the tool we use to pick up the worms!

The incubator where the worms live…
My Typical Day: I might start my day desiging and making a new bit of DNA and then after lunch I will inject that DNA into my worms!
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My day starts at 7am and I finish when all my work is complete – but each day is different. Every day I check my worms are happy and well fed but after that I might cut up and stick together bits of DNA. I would inject the DNA into worms (using a big microscope and a joystick like on a computer game). Sometimes this goes well and sometimes if you inject too much DNA, you might blow up the worms! Some days I might look at stem cells under a microscope powered by a laser. Or, I might have presentations to prepare for and I always have a stack of papers to read! Of course, there is always time for coffee and cake.

This is the injection set-up

Me loading some DNA (coloured blue) into an agarose gel

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Samantha Hughes