We all know that DNA (four chemical letters: A, T, C, G) encodes the genetic information of our lives, including appearance, growth, and even genetic diseases. It performs like an instruction book that tells our cells how to function. However, do you know how we decrypt this personal book and apply it for diagnosis and […]

I find lab work incredibly rewarding and I feel very privileged to be able to continue my education in such a welcoming and stimulating environment. It is quite common for people in the science field to struggle to think of themselves as ‘scientists’, even if they spend the entire day in the lab and have […]

Tammy Piper’s role as Tissue Bank Manager at the IGC came about both as a result of, and despite, her upbringing. The oldest of three children growing up in a dysfunctional family in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, as a teenager she took to running away as things reached a ‘cooker pressure’ situation at home, often staying […]

During Postdoc Appreciation Week, which recognises the exceptional contribution of research staff to the University, we speak to Lawrence Bates about life as a postdoc in Jenny Nichols’ lab, which studies the early stages of mammalian development, from formation of the blastocyst to implantation, gastrulation and the onset of organogenesis. What was your route to […]

Facility Manager Lizzie Freyer works alongside Flow Cytometry Specialist Michael Rennie in a state-of-the-art lab in the new North East Building, which they moved to in April from three separate rooms in the West Building. What was your route to becoming a technician? I studied in Germany and by degree I’m a Biotechnology Engineer. I […]

Jonnie works as a Zebrafish technologist looking after several thousand tropical fish spread over three rooms on the ground floor of the Central Building. What was your route to becoming a technician? I did a PhD in Developmental Biology in Aberdeen looking at the mechanism of early eye development. When I came back to Edinburgh, […]

Helen works as Histology Service Manager in the first-floor lab in the South Building of the IGC, running the histology service for users within the university and outwith, including students from other universities who don’t have histology services and some private companies. What was your route to becoming a technician? I have been here for […]

Tucked away on the ground floor of the West Building, Stephen Brown and Jeff Joseph are the experts behind the in-house DNA sequencing facility providing Sanger sequencing to all IGC researchers and their collaborators. Facility Manager Stephen started working at IGC 20 years ago after completing his Biological Sciences degree and taking time out to […]

Facility Manager Alison and her Research Technician colleague Camilla Drake work in a bright south facing lab on the first floor of the South Building housing cutting edge protein, antibody and transcriptomic microarray facilities together with a family of cacti called Dr Spike Pickles, Prick Jagger, Cactniss Evergreen and Maximus Cacticus.   What was your […]

Foundation Apprenticeships are a work-based learning opportunity, for senior phase secondary school pupils. It helps us build our skills for work and gives us a recognized qualification without a final exam at the end. Lasting 1 to 2 years, we began our foundation apprenticeship in S5 or S6. The pupils who opt in to do […]