Apologies for taking so long to write this next blog post. Things have been busy in the lab for me the last few months, but now I'm back to writing my blog and hopefully teaching those who are interested something new on this gloomy, rainy Thursday ๐ฆ So, in my last blog post I introduced [...]
Happy Friday everyone ๐๐
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I have now been in my job for a whole month ๐ฑ it is crazy how quickly time is going. But it is safe to say that I am still loving what I do as a science communications officer.. ๐ฉโ๐ฌ And I hope to write a blog over the weekend to tell you all more about what I've been up to in my first month ๐ฉโ๐ป
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But for now TGIF ๐ฅ and I am celebrating my one month job anniversary. I might even crack open my Christmas gin & get takeaway!
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This is also your friendly Friday reminder that not all scientists wear lab coats ๐ฉโ๐ฌ
I don't regret doing lab research ๐ฌ at all but I feel so much happier in this role. I am still glad I did my PhD because I use it every day to help me communicate the incredible and diverse research that is coming out of the LMS! ๐ง
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One month down, at least ๐ค๐ป 21 more to go! And things are just getting more and more exciting! ๐ค
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How has your week been? Any weekend plans? Or ask me a question about my role. What would you like to know about?
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|| Image: selfie of Soph stood in front of sign reading MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences ||
What is love?๐ต๐ถ๐ต
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So when I was trying to come up with something engaging to write for Valentine's Day, I realised that this will be the last one before I get married ๐ฑ
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So in honour of that I wanted to keep it simple today & just share the science of love.
๐คฎ I know, I know - but I'm embracing the cheese & cuteness today :p
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While you might think 'being in love' is something only found in films & poems, there is actually some science to falling in love. Huge, measurable changes in the biochemistry of your brain ๐ง in fact. Note - not your heart โค
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Science has identified three basic parts of love each with their own intoxicating blend of chemicals - kinda like being in some very high end cocktail bar!
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Let's take cocktail number 1 - lust๐! This is controlled by both oestrogen & testosterone in men & women โค
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As for cocktail number 2 - attraction - well that is a perfect mix of adrenaline, dopamine & serotonin. The same set of molecules released in exciting new experiences โค
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Long term attachment is our third & final cocktail - a mixture of completely different chemicals and hormones again. Oxytocin, also known as the cuddle hormone, & vasopressin govern these responses & encourage bonding โค
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Each of these molecules works in a different part of the brain ๐ง too to influence lust, attraction & long term attachment.
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Research has also shown that this process of 'falling in love' can be hurried along. One small study revealed that participants who spoke deeply to a stranger for 30 minutes & then stared into each other's eyes for 4 minutes ๐ felt a deep lasting attachment. Any Big Bang Theory fans out there will recognise that experiment!
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So it is probably safe to say that my brain ๐ง biochemistry has changed over the past 8 years. And right now, my brain is being ruled by oxytocin & vasopressin!
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Happy Valentine's Day โค to all of you whether you celebrate it or not! This is also your friendly reminder that today isn't just for your significant others. Reach out to your family & friends too. And especially if you have any PhD students you know - make sure to remind them that they're not alone
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Sending all the science love to you all too ๐๐
'It is a marathon, not a sprint'
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Time for the next installment of my PhD #wednesdaywisdom feature ๐ง
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Now I am out the other side of the PhD ๐ฉโ๐ฌ, I thought it would be a good time for me to reflect on my experience & pass on ๐ค๐ป some of the things I learnt.
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Today's tip is one that rings true for many things in life, but especially PhDs. They are a minimum of three years for a reason.
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Why? Because it takes time to settle in, to learn techniques ๐ง , to troubleshoot methods and to get some valuable data ๐ out of those experiments to mould the next steps of your path.
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Many PhD students don't actually get their most key findings ๐ until their final years, if at all. My supervisor told me of a story ๐ of a previous student who did their whole PhD with negative โ results. But they still got their doctorate, because a PhD is training to become a researcher more than a time to accumulate data.
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So if you are at the end of your first, second or even third years of PhD and feel like you don't have much to show, it doesn't matter. You would have learnt a lot more than just what is in your graphs. Plus it means the thesis writing process won't be as long :p
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Time in a PhD feels like it goes in a flash, but make sure to take your time and really take in what you're doing. You will get there in the end so enjoy the ride and don't fret about the remaining time and your *perhaps* lack of data. ๐
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You and a PhD are so much more than that! ๐
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PS. You can do it, but if you ever need to chat about PhDs my DMs are always open for anything :)
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What PhD wisdom would you like to pass on? Or what PhD wisdom would you like to hear?
On a grey & cloudy Tuesday morning at a research centre in West London, the new science communications officer gathered with other researchers from the institute to learn how to tell stories about their scientific research.
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As you might have guessed, today I want to talk about storytelling & why we need it for effective science communication.
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What is the point of scientists spending years of their lives uncovering new knowledge & developing new technologies if they don't tell anyone about it?
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Communicating science is critical for the STEM fields not only amongst peers at conferences, but also for gaining funding & even sharing with the public.
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Now anyone can stand up & give a talk or chat to the public about what they have discovered to share that information, but not everyone can make someone remember it. That is where the art of storytelling comes in.
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In a workshop last Tuesday hosted by the amazing @katarneywrites, some of my colleagues & I attended a workshop to learn about what makes a good story, from which angle is best to tell that story & how stories make you feel before applying that to our own research & writing stories of our own.
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Make your science story captivating & engaging, something that someone can relate to and feel something about, and the masses will remember it!
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I am pleased to say that Stemmy the stem cell made another appearance & set out on another quest to save the world with regenerative medicine. And I am thrilled to say that I won best research story of the day.
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It even inspired me to dust off my children's science story book dream, but for now I might just share installments of Stemmy's story on my blog.
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More on storytelling in the near future, but for now I would highly recommend taking this workshop from First Create The Media or get your uni comms or outreach teams to get them in too because it was a great workshop that researchers of all levels could really benefit from.
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Learn how to tell your science story and I promise it will better your career!
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What are your favourite stories? What about a story makes you remember it?
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|| Image: selfie of Soph holding postcard with First Create The Media written ||
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science ๐๐
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I am definitely a bit late to the party today for many reasons but one of those is because I couldnt find the right words for this post. I just had too much I wanted to say on the topic. But here is what I decided on:
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Seeing all of your posts today has put a huge smile on my face ๐ seeing how supportive of each other you all are ๐. But this year I want to ask you all to use this supportive community to make our community more inclusive and diverse. ๐ญ๐ฟ๐ญ๐ป๐ญ๐ผ๐ญ๐พ
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Inspiring the next generation of female scientists needs a true representation of scientist role models - whether that is race, disability, religion or any female-identifying gender to name but a few.
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No matter what boxes you tick โ, I encourage you all to shout out and highlight a diverse range of female scientists๐ฉโโ๏ธ๐ฉ๐ผโโ๏ธ๐ฉ๐ฟโโ๏ธ๐ฉ๐ฝโโ๏ธ to show the world that anyone can be a scientist.
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But also I ask you all to show that a career in STEM isnt just being at a lab bench ๐ฌ wearing a lab coat. Todays image is a throwback to my lab days as I am now a month ๐ฑ into my new role as a scicomm officer. But I pledge to showcase more field scientists, coders, writers, artists, editors and more that are still scientists!
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To inspire more women and girls into science careers we need yo showcase our inclusivity and our diversity of inspiring individuals but the potential of careers too.
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"In order to be you, she needs to see you" ๐
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What messages are you wanting to share today? Who are the women in science that inspire you every day?
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|| Image: photo of Soph in yellow lab coat sat in front of cell culture hood ||
WHAT IS CANCER?
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I am not a cancer researcher. I have only ever looked at cancer from a stem cell perspective. But I am a science communicator. So I will break down the science behind it for everyone to understand.
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Our bodies are made up of around 37 TRILLION cells with each one containing an almost identical copy of a 2 metre length of DNA. A series of around 3 BILLION chemical letters of A, T, G and C into over 20,000 genes & 23 pairs of chromosomes. All these letters are read as three letter 'words' called codons that make up one amino acid. This continues until you have a series of amino acids that make up a protein - a crucial component of all the cells inner workings - everything from generating energy to communication & all in between.
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But cancer cells contain mistakes in these letters. So the 'words' change meaning & proteins change. Cancer cells may have vital proteins that are missing or don't work because of an accumulation of mutations in our DNA sequence which alter the whole cell's behaviour.
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Few people can accumulate genetic faults, but most mutations are gained as we get older from sunlight, smoking, alcohol & so on. Even healthy individuals can get these mistakes.
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Cells must divide for growth & repair but each time it does that it has to copy all 3 BILLION of those letters. And doing that without a mistake is nearly impossible. Although the cell checks, some errors can slip through leading to mutations starting to accumulate.
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In-built safety checks will also instruct a cell to self-destruct if it has gained too many errors. But again some cells can slip through these checkpoints. Cancer cells tend to have mutations in genes known as oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes. Oncogenes normally control a cells division but errors in these genes can leave the cell uncontrollably growing. Whereas tumour suppressors usually tell the cell to stop dividing - so I'm sure you can guess what happens when those genes can't function either.
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The result is a damaged cell that replicates uncontrollably leading to tumours.
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What one word is cancer to you?
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|| Image: mouse lung sarcanoma cells; credit: NIH, CC2.0 license ||
