Stefanie Redemann (Germany)
| Hello! My name is Stefanie. Currently I am a PhD-student at the Max-Planck-Institute for molecular cell biology and genetics in Dresden/Germany. |
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The topic of my research is the first cell division of a worm embryo. The worm is about 1mm in size and it can be found in soil outside of the lab. I chose to work with those tiny worms as trying to understand how cells divide (and other molecular processes) is much simpler in a smaller and less complex organism than in us humans. I hope that at some point I will understand how the cell "knows" when and how to divide, as the first cell division of this worm gives rise to two different sized cells. This asymmetric division already determines the destiny of those cells, germ line cell (sperm / oocyte) or somatic (body) cell. I can investigate this process with a microscope and certain molecular biology techniques. I can mark proteins inside the cell with fluorescent colors and observe their localisation, or I can eliminate genes and look at the effect. This will tell me which genes and proteins are important for the cell division.
Sometimes I wonder how I came to be a scientist. In school I was never very good in subjects as chemistry or physics, which are very important for biology. But the biology class was very interesting. I was fascinated by the often so precise regulation of organisms. Genes are translated, proteins are made, cells divide, and all this doesn't require us, it somehow happens automatically by itself. And I wanted to know what science can do, what is possible and what is fiction. I was driven by the wish to understand.
After school I first learned to be a technician and then decided to study biology. After I finished my diploma in Heidelberg, I moved to Dresden.
I started my PhD two years ago and I am happy with my work and my lab. My lab is a rather big one, we are about 20 people, and it is very international. Even though the institute is located in Germany, we all speak English, as half of the people working in the institute are from countries all over the world, China, USA, India, Italy, Poland, Australia, Chile ... just to name a few.
Scientists usually work a lot, but to me it is somehow different to other jobs. It is often more like a hobby, a passion; you are trying to solve a question. You are curious and this will make you want to work, in order to get the results. But of course there is still time left for other things. Our institute itself offers lots of activities, and of course I still have time for other activities as dancing tango, climbing, meeting my friends, traveling etc.
To me being a scientist is a great job. It will never get boring, as there are so many questions yet to answer, so many things to find out. And just imagine being the first one to make a discovery, the first one to understand something...