Monday 25 February 2013

Welcome...



Inspired by the recent success of Prof Brian Cox's latest foray into broadcasting science, I have decided to try my hand at communicating science.

So, what makes me qualified to do this?

Well, I'm a PhD student at the University of Manchester, working in Microbiology. In practical terms, this means that my day job is to research something interesting in Bacteria. In addition to my lab research, I also spend a considerable amount of time in a beautiful gothic museum attached to the university, called The Manchester Museum, helping to develop and deliver science workshops to groups of adults and school students. These workshops cover a wide range of topics including Human Evolution and Forensic Science.

(Not so) Secretly, my real interest is in the Industrial Exploitation of Microbes. That covers things like brewing beer and making bread using bakers' yeast (a fungus called Saccharomyces cerevisiae), producing antibiotics and vitamins (using Bacteria like Escherichia coli), and fermenting milk to create cheese and other dairy foods (with the likes of Lactobacillus acidophilus).

I will try to use this blog to explain some concepts which we microbiologists assume the rest of the world knows. I will also aim to use this space to bring other people's interesting ideas to the fore. I hope you find the entries interesting (and dare I say it, enjoyable).

Thanks for joining me,

Helen
Hard at work, in the lab!