Watching cells die!??!

Maybe that sounds mean? Not really. Every minute  – 300,000,000 cells die in the human body.

Oh NO…How do we survive then? Far more cells are being made than are dying (just means we have lots of new cells, for example skin cells).

My interest is to understand how cells commit to cell death and what they need to survive. Then to use this knowledge to find ways to remove damaged cancer cells from the body.

Example of a dying cell : )

Notice that the cell shrinks in size as it dies and gets all blebby!

The colours show different parts of the cell – red is the energy factory (called mitochondria), blue the brain centre (where the DNA is, called a nucleus) and the main part is green (this part is called the cytoplasm).

Discovery starts with a question – so my day begins with first thinking of great scientific questions. Next designing an experimental approach and together with my fantastic group of co-workers, performing an experiment. The next part of the day is is the most fun – analysing the results to see if my original idea was right or wrong!