Profile

I am originally from Mexico! But lived in Edinburgh a few years before moving to Nottingham. I love all thing science but when I am not in the lab I enjoy reading, running and playing the cello! I love travelling and visiting my family back home (including my dog!), eating good food and enjoying the sunshine!

Micro-rnas help our cells turn our genes on and off. Genes are bits of DNA that contain instructions to make the different parts our cells need. It is important to make sure we have the right amount of each gene to keep our cells healthy! In the lab I work with cells that I grow in an incubator. I am able to collect lots and lots of cells and then separate them into their different parts to study them individually. I study these cells and look at what their micro-rnas are like. We can’t see cells with our naked eye but we can see them under a microscope, however even with the most powerful microscope we can’t look at micro-RNAs- they are tiny! We have special machines in the lab that let us study and count micro-RNAs without having to see them- Very exciting!

The first thing I do when I get into the lab is to look at my cells under a microscope. Because I know them so well its easy for me to tell if they are happy or they need anything. Cells grow in plastic dishes, and when the dishes get full the cells need to be moved into new ones! The dishes have a liquid in them we call ‘media’, this is the cells food and has to be changed every two days-taking care of cells is hard work! Then I have to plan my experiments for the day. I write down everything I do in a lab book. This is very important as I write down exactly how I did an experiment so I can do it the same every time-like a recipe book! It also keeps all of my results safe. Looking at my lab book I can see exactly what I did the day before and plan the rest of my day. Then I put on my lab coat, goggles and gloves and I start my experiments! I am usually found in the lab mixing different chemicals in small, capped tubes! I end the day spending sometime on my computer, looking at the results from my experiments and thinking very hard about what they all mean!