Transcript Burkholderia cepacia

Research in Genetics
Dr. Helena Seth-Smith
G and L 1987-1994
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Cambridge
What I’ll talk about...
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Science as a career
Career structure in science
My Ph.D. project
The Sanger Institute
A day in the life...
Questions
Science as a career
Science as a Career
Interesting
Use your brain
Continue learning
Discover the unknown,
and pursue it
Expert in your field
Freedom of research
Flexible work
Variety within work
Active
Not a traditional job for life
You can travel with jobs
You can travel with conferences
South Africa - Kruger
Zimbabwe
– Victoria Falls
South Africa – Cape Town
Puerto Rico
Young and varied people
- casual
Further personal development
You don’t do it for the money
Science has geeks
But other professions have
issues too
Career structure in science
Career Structure in Science
(not that you have to decide early on)
Undergraduate
degree
Ph.D.
Postdoctoral
position
(Professorship)
Lectureship
Second
postdoc...
Undergraduate degree
– Format: lectures and practicals
– Natural Sciences for choice of subjects
•First year: cell biology, physiology, chemistry, maths
•Second year: molecular cell biology, biochemistry,
history and philosophy of science
•Third year: Genetics
– Can lead to a number of careers
– Need 2.1 or above for PhD
Ph.D.
– Format: research (papers and lab work)
– Choose a subject you are interested in
– Autonomy : planning
– Social life, sport, teaching ...
– Produce a MAJOR piece of work (STRESS!!)
– Useful skills for other jobs
Postdoctoral position
– Continue in same field or choose to learn
another
–Location, location, location
–2-3 years to do publishable research
Second postdoc...
– Ditto
– And maybe ditto again
– Find your own niche / area of interest
– Or move into industrial science
Lectureship
– Own research group
and teaching
– Permanent post
– More permanent location
– Fewer women
(Professorship)
– Highest level in academia
– Head of Department
My Ph.D. Project:
Microbial Degradation of RDX
Bacteria eating explosives
Explosives are dangerous...
...to our
health
Explosive polluted sites
Explosives in bombs
CH3
O2N
TNT
NO2
Trinitrotoluene
NO2
NO2
RDX
N
O2N
N
Royal
demolition
N
NO2 explosive
Seeing bacteria eating explosives
RDX
makes the
agar on
the plate
look
white and
grainy
Where
RDX has
been
eaten and
removed,
agar is
clear
Up close and personal
5mm
(Electron microscopes don’t show orange!)
Growth curve
The gene I discovered
Gene.....
makes...
Protein
Gene in plants
Normal, wild type plants
- get sicker as they are
grown with more explosive
Plants with my gene in
- healthy when grown
with explosive
more explosive in the soil
The future
The Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute
www.sanger.ac.uk
The Sanger Institute
AIM: To sequence and analyse genomes, for
future research on human biology and disease
Organisms with Sequenced Genomes
From organism to DNA...
...to sequence
A day in the life...
A day in the life
A day in the life
A day in the life
A day in the life
A day in the life
A day in the life
A day in the life
Conclusion
• Worthwhile career
• Plenty of time to decide
• Huge variety of research projects
Thanks for your attention!
Slides and contact details at:
www.sanger.ac.uk/Users/hss/
Questions…?
DNA double helix
My work at the Sanger
Institute
Comparing bacteria
Nice bacterium
Nasty, infectious bacterium
Very similar to nice bacterium
What are the differences?
Can the genes tell us about
infection?
Name a bug after yourself!
•Walter H Burkholder
•Burkholderia cepacia
•Degrades pollutants,
infects plants, infects
human lungs, helps
crops