Profile
Laura Durrant
My CV
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Education:
My primary school was Ashtree School in Stevenage. My secondary school was Barnwell School in Stevenage.
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Qualifications:
12 GCSEs, 3 A-levels in triple science, a General Foundation Degree, a BSc in Biochemistry with Human Biology and a MSc in Molecular Medicine
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Work History:
I mostly worked in retail when I was a teenager. During university, I did a lot of catering work like waitressing, making coffees, bar work and setting up events.
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About Me:
I’m a technical scientist who works in DNA sequencing! 👩🔬🧬 In my spare time I like to swim, paint, play the guitar and hang out with my friends 🏊🏼♀️🎸
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Read more
I live in Hertfordshire and work in Cambridge. I have always loved science, even when I was a little girl. I used to want to be a doctor, but then realised that I like looking at and reading about the tiny molecules that make life possible. When I am not focusing on science, my favourite hobbies are swimming, strumming my guitar and going to music concerts and festivals. Forest Gump is my absolute favourite movie ever and I know all the lines (never watch it with me!) I prefer Pizza Hut to Dominos, but then again you can never be too picky.
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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My Work:
I work in DNA Sequencing 🧬 Unravelling the genetic code helps us to understand the world around us. We are mostly interested in the link between DNA and human health.
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I am an Advanced Research Assistant at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge. Sanger is known around the world for discovering and pioneering something called ‘DNA sequencing’, which is a method used to figure out the order of letters (A, T, C and G) in a strand of DNA. We also look at a similar molecule called RNA, which is important for regulating DNA and other processes in cells. With this information, we can understand how DNA and RNA works and how it affects many aspects of life, like evolution, microbes and human health.
In order to sequence DNA and RNA, they first needs to be prepared as ‘molecular libraries’. Because we handle a lot of samples in one go, a lot of this is done using hi-tech robots. But sometimes we need to do keep it old-school and do it by hand. As you can imagine, there’s never a dull day in DNA sequencing!
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My Typical Day:
I get up at about 7:30am and have a big bowl of cereal for breakfast. I get in the car at abut 8:30am to drive to work and turn up the radio for a morning jamming session. When I get to work at 9am I make myself a strong coffee, check my emails and have a look at what needs to be done for the day. By about 9:30am I get going with by lab work. Then I have lunch at about 12:30, where I either sit with friends or go for a walk. By the time I get back my experiments are done and I can look at the data. I then go home at about 5pm.
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Once I have checked my emails and finished by morning coffee, I go into the lab and started with DNA library preparation using our high-tech robots. This process can take a whole day and has multiple steps using robots, so I get started as soon as I can. Once I have the robot up and running, I go on my lunch break. After lunch, I will carry on with where I left off and eventually check the final results. If I am happy with how they look, I will then send them off to be sequenced.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, inquisitive and kind
What did you want to be after you left school?
A molecular biologist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, I was a bit of a teachers pet
Who is your favourite singer or band?
The Beatles
What's your favourite food?
Sushi 🍣
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Success, happiness and the ability to eat all the cake I want 🍰
Tell us a joke.
Why didn't the skeleton cross the road? Because it had no body to go with!
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