Simone Weyand (Germany)
| Hello, my name is Simone. I have been a student at EMBL Hamburg since 2003. I have been doing my PhD since then and I hope to finish in the near future. |
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My main interest and therefore my entire day is filled with proteins and especially what they look like. All biological functions like seeing, hearing or the heart beat is taking place through proteins. It is important to understand how they look like so that we can understand how they do whatever their job is.
I am trying to find out what some proteins which cause tuberculosis look like, which is also called structural biology. These special proteins are interesting for me, because if we know their shape, we might invent new medicine against this disease. I observe their shape by growing crystals, such as salt or sugar crystals which we use for cooking. Whenever a crystals grows, I use it and shoot x-rays onto it, just like putting a piece of glass in front of a flash light. You will see lots of different light rays spinning off in several directions. They can be photographed and special computer programmes will be able to produce a picture of your protein from the photos. So far I have been able to find out about two different proteins what they look like, and I am about to find out the shape of a third one shortly.
Aside from science I love to go out with friends especially for chatting and going to the cinema. One reason why I like to go to the cinema a lot is that they have Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I am simply addicted to it and I think it is even better than Häagen Dasz. My friends also call me the ice cream queen, and I polish my crown for this title every evening... I also like reading and computer games. Whenever the weather is nice I meet up with someone and we go kayaking on little rivers, which is a lot of fun too.
Schools:
Gymnasium Horn Bremen
International School Hamburg Altona