Iryna Charapitsa (Belarus)
| Hi! My name is Iryna, I am 24 and currently live in Heidelberg, Germany. After graduation from Lyceum of the Belarussian State University, I got my diploma and now I am a PhD student at European Molecular Biology Laboratory. |
 |
I went into science because I like challenge. I believe our life is a constant action and is always on a move. I am not afraid of facing problems and once being asked a question I do not stop until I find an answer. That's in brief what I do every day of my work! You want to know what happens in a living organism, you ask a question, you perform an experiment, and you get an answer!
Our research group at EMBL is studying process of dosage compensation. Many organisms have sex chromosomes, in humans they are called X and Y. Females have two X chromosomes. Males have one X and one Y, meaning, that they lack half of the X amount. Dosage compensation is a mechanism that equals expression of X-linked genes. It is a very specific process, happening only in one sex and only on X chromosome. Our group studies how this specificity is achieved.
Science also gives you an opportunity to meet people with same interests. You go to conferences, give and listen to talks, exchange ideas with scientists from all over the world, get acquainted with people who share same passion for nature. And when the official part of a conference is over you discover talented musicians, wonderful painters, amazing poets and experienced hikers in the very same people you have discussed latest news in your field that morning!
I find molecular biology one of the most interesting branches of a modern science. It lets you ask most daring questions about life, and cutting-edge technologies make finding answers possible. One important thing that also makes biology extremely appealing to me is that it is a science with a "human face", meaning it is close to our real life. In fact, it studies life. So, by learning biology I study myself. And I know that this study will never stop being amusing and pleasing to me!