The Laboratory

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long; things have been really busy in London! Where to start…
I am now in my 5th week at the Lovell-Badge Lab at the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR). The NIMR is a British government research institute, similar to what I guess the NIH is for us. The institute feels and looks really big, but there are probably more labs in the Whitehead building back at Emory then in the whole NIMR. Either way, the institute is really an awesome place to conduct research. Everyone is very friendly and to my dismay, not British. In my lab of 12, I think 3 are Brits. We have: an Italian, 2 French, an Irish, a German and a Japanese guy. I might not be getting the “British” experience (whatever that means) but I am getting the international experience. The best is when we are sitting in the canteen (cafeteria) with people from all over Europe during the beginning of the madness that is/was the World Cup. First the Italian was heartbroken, followed by the French, then me, then the Portuguese, (all the while the Irish girl was ecstatic when England lost) until all but the German and Spaniards are still happy. There is nothing like the World Cup in Europe; in America we think people are crazy over the Super Bowl or World Series games, but nothing in the States compares to football mania. It is so contagious! I just hope that in four years USA can manage to get a little farther…
In lab I am working with Silvana Guioli (Italian) studying left-right asymmetry in the developing chick gonads in regards to sex differentiation. Specifically, my project focuses on estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) and its asymmetric division in the gonads and how this differentiation affects gonadal development. When I first expressed interest in the Lovell-Badge lab, I did not know that they studied chick embryos at all – I thought it was an exclusively mouse lab. As it turns out, I am working with the only lab member who works with chicks. This came as a surprise, because I was under the impression that, with my background in mouse genetics, that I would be employing similar techniques as I have in the past. This not being so has its benefits and is drawbacks. First, it very exciting learning about new model systems and new techniques, but at the same time greatly reduces my ability to generate usable data. Much of my time has been spent mastering ovo manipulation techniques. I just hope that I can come away from the summer having generated good, usable data. There is still hope! (and many more eggs…)
My 2nd biggest complaint about my time at the NIMR so far is the 1 HOUR commute (total 2 hours a day) to the institute. It is such a pain! London public transport really is amazing – the tube system, the buses, and of course the night buses (the tube closes at midnight and most normal buses close at midnight, when the night buses begin operation). The only problem with the system is that its wicked expensive… Such is life. Living so far away from work was my decision, and if I can do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing; the area where the NIMR is would be no fun, and I am living in the college-y area of London, which provides ample opportunity to stay busy.
Anyhoo – this is all for this post – more coming very soon!