Profile
Jessica Ellins
My CV
-
Education:
All Saints RC School York (your average state school)
-
Qualifications:
12 A* at GCSE and then 4 A* at A Level
I was very lucky to have amazing teachers who helped me every step of the way and I think it’s important to note you DO NOT NEED to have all A* to be a scientist!!! Enthusiasm and passion is way more important! -
Work History:
I’ve always been a student! Most of my employment came via my university e.g. helping at open days and with summer schools.
-
Current Job:
PhD student at Imperial College London, funded by the Medical Research Council.
-
About Me:
Hi! I’m a 1st year PhD student at Imperial College London, obsessed by cats, musicals (but not the musical Cats) and trashy/not-so-trashy television!
-
Read more
Hi! I’m a 1st year PhD student at Imperial College London. Prior to lockdown, I lived in west London with my two lovely flatmates from university, and regularly enjoyed visiting art galleries and doing pub quizzes with friends. Now I’m back home in York with my family for the forseeable future, utilising my free time to explore new-found hobbies such as painting-by-numbers and knitting. I’m also doing my ‘part’ and getting involved in outreach projects (e.g. Coronavirus Tutoring Initiative) to help school pupils in this difficult time. My pronouns are she/her!
-
Read more
Our body is made up of trillions of cells of many types, such as skin cells, brain cells and muscle cells. DNA is the genetic material in each of these cells which determines what type of cell it becomes. However, each cell has the same DNA. So how does this work? Genes are sections of DNA which code for a certain feature. In brain cells, the genes for ‘brain’ will be switched on but the genes for the other types of cell will be switched off. In skin cells, only the genes for ‘skin’ will be switched on. How does our body switch off certain genes? Many molecules called proteins are involved. These proteins bind to DNA and alter its structure- they can make it more open, and then the genes are ‘on’, or they can make it more closed and the genes are switched off.
I’m looking at how DNA looks when no proteins are bound, and then also how it looks when a protein called HP1 is bound. HP1 switches off genes, so we expect DNA to become more compact, but it might be a lot more complicated than this. HP1 is very important, as if we don’t switch off the right genes at the right time then it can cause diseases such as cancer. So we want to know as much as possible about how HP1 works so we can defeat diseases!
For this we use a technique called cryo-electron microscopy. This is like a normal microscope except we fire an ‘electron gun’ at our sample and this generates the image- this allows us to see very small things that a normal microscope couldn’t see. Just one way in which advances in technology have helped power science!
-
My Typical Day:
I don’t like mornings. Usually I get up by about 8am and make my way into the lab, but we don’t have to be in too early which is nice! I love seeing all my lab mates- we usually start the day with a nice chat. Then I set up my experiments for the day, which can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours long- usually you can do more than one experiment at a time! I have a lovely lunch with the lab, then after finishing my experiments I leave the lab and go hang out with friends or go to choir in the evening.
-
My Interview
-
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Loud, friendly, curious
What did you want to be after you left school?
Originally, an actress- but I have more patience for science than for learning lines.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Only for talking too much
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I have always and will always love Taylor Swift
What's your favourite food?
Chocolate, no question
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Health, good company and good food
Tell us a joke.
What did the cell say to his sibling who stepped on his foot? Ouch, MI-TO-SIS
-