By Sydney Peters, George Watson’s College When I was first offered the chance to work in Noor’s lab I was so excited but wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Biology and Chemistry have always been my favourite subjects in school but I was intrigued to see what life as a scientist would really be […]
When I applied to the MRC Human Genetics Unit (HGU) PhD programme I was already working as a Research Assistant at the HGU but my path up to that point hadn’t been very direct. When I left university with an honours degree in Cell Biology, I was ready to enter the workforce. I wanted […]
Breathing in the thin but fresh air of Himalayas, and bathed in the most dazzling sunlight besides Namtso, I was on a road trip across Tibet last summer. Right after resigning from my last job, one of my closest friends just started the career as an English teacher there, so we drove 3,000 kilometres from […]
Intro I didn’t always want to do a PhD, in fact, I didn’t always want to be a scientist! At first, I even applied to be a vet. But I quickly realised it was science that I was actually interested in, so the injured animals will have to survive without me! I then did my […]
Where do I want to be in 5 years? Move to a new city? Masters…then PhD? Gap year? Job? Just over a year ago as my 21-year-old self was creeping closer to being released from the comfort of my undergraduate environment, these were just a selection of the many questions surfacing in my mind as […]
As it is #FishInResearch week, I present a day in the life of a fish in research. Wild type shoal hanging out in their tank. 9AM sharp the sun bursts into life, almost as if it’s on a digital timer. Thousands of zebrafish are bright eyed for the sudden start. The fact that they […]
It’s late August and the last of the summer sun is peeping in from behind the window as I speak with Alison Meynert, the Manager of the Bioinformatics Analysis Core (BAC) Facility. It provides advice, training, the provision of computational tools and collaborative expertise to all Institute of Genetics and Cancer researchers. The facility provides […]
From shy researcher to Fringe artist I am not a natural stand-up comedian by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have a passion for public engagement, so the opportunity to talk in front of a real Fringe audience about my research was very tempting. Without thinking too much about the reality, I boldly […]
The Institute of Genetics and Cancer is home to some incredible research! I know. I’ve seen it myself. Every time I step into the office, I hear new and fascinating research conversations. Let’s be honest though, it’s not always simple, is it? When I first heard the terms Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) and knockout mice, […]
Dr Duncan Sproul is a CRUK Career Development Fellow at the MRC Human Genetics Unit and Institute of Genetics and Cancer at the University of Edinburgh. His work focusses on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind deregulated DNA methylation in disease. I met with him to chat about his career, his thoughts on how epigenetics will advance […]
