As part of National Postdoc Appreciation week, the St. Jude Progress blog invited me to write about what it’s like to be a postdoctoral researcher. I gladly accepted to help non-scientists appreciate that scientists lead rather normal lives, that frequently revolve around their pets and loved ones.
Morning
Around 6:30 a.m. our cat, Lucius, scratches at the window to wake me up so I will feed him. I call him over and force a few snuggles while I work on opening my eyes. By the time my alarm goes off, I’m finally ready to wake up. I move to the foot of our bed to coax our dog, Lucy, to wake up too. After I hug her while she rolls around on the bed, I’m ready to conquer another day…
Afternoon
Today I’m putting two molecules together, one stained red and the other green. The green molecule is a protein that is sometimes mutated in cancer cells. I want to compare how different cancer mutations in the green protein affect how it behaves with the red one. My goal is to see if I can measure whether together, they will form droplets like oil in water…
continue reading at St Jude Progress Blog
If the SJ link isn’t working, see the pdf here
Jill Bouchard 