• Question: Why is your research important in the world we live in and how will it affect us all in the future?

    Asked by anon-233435 to Varun, Sammie, Rebecca, Anna, Alin, Adam on 11 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Varun Ramaswamy

      Varun Ramaswamy answered on 11 Nov 2019: last edited 11 Nov 2019 11:10 am

      I figure out the shapes of proteins in our body.

      That is important because proteins do everything in our body. Our hair colour, eye colour, skin colour are all proteins. Our nails and hair strands are made of the same protein taking on different shapes. When we move, our muscles have flexible protein fibres that help us move. We digest food with proteins in our saliva and our stomach’s digestive juices, and of course, We can breathe oxygen because of the protein called “haemoglobin” in our blood.

      I could keep going on but I think you see what I mean – haha.

      And the only way we can find out how a protein works, is by looking at it. Most importantly, if we find a protein that is defective, we can synthesise drugs of a specific shape to attack it and stop it from doing further damage.

      In short, my field of molecular biophysics is what big pharmaceutical companies use to make medicines for all diseases.

    • Photo: Adam Washington

      Adam Washington answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      A large amount of my research is dedicated to helping other scientists perform their research. Some of that research can help the environment, like less toxic fire-extinguishers and lower carbon footprint paints. Others were trying to work on saving lives with better pharmaceuticals. Another group wanted to try and bring better tasting chocolates to store shelves. Some have been pushing the boundaries of new types of computers.

      The hard truth is that most of these projects won’t pan out. And I’ll have only been a small part of the one that does work. But I’ll have been a small part of something that makes a big difference. I just look forward to finding out which something that will be.

    • Photo: Rebecca Shaw

      Rebecca Shaw answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      I’ve worked for a variety of PI’s (principal investigators) i.e, the people who are the boss of research groups and lead the research we carry out. As a technician, I will move around research groups aiming to help PI’s carry out their research. The work I have carried all contribute to a wider research goal – I’ve worked on looking at fungal pathogens and how they infect us, evolutionary genetics of animals and how stress affects development.

      One of the projects that I felt was really important and I have participated in have looked at a bacteria called Salmonella Typhi which causes Typhoid fever. Typhoid fever can be awful and is thought to have between 11-21 million cases reported a year. The researchers I worked with looked into how some people are immune to the bacteria (can easily fight it off) and try to work on understanding how we can prevent or cure the disease.

    • Photo: Samantha Firth

      Samantha Firth answered on 12 Nov 2019:

      I don’t carry out the research myself – It’s my job to talk about other scientists and their amazing work. A big part of my job involves turning the really complex research our scientists do into interesting, understandable snippets. Making important research more accessible will hopefully contribute to letting everyone know that science isn’t just for ‘brainy people’ – it is for everyone! If I can help people who feel excluded from science to see STEM subjects as an option that is open to them, I will be chuffed 🌞 The more diverse the science community, the wider and richer our knowledge base and research scope becomes!

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