Jenna Elton and Catarina Caetano, DNA Pipelines, Wellcome Sanger Instititue
This year the Sanger Institute gave three Year 12 students the opportunity to directly contribute our cutting-edge science. Below are their experiences
Over July and August the DNA pipelines team at the Sanger Institute hosted three Nuffield Research Placement students for two-week project placements. This was the first time that the Institute has been part of the scheme.
The placements are hands-on research projects, where students have the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to our work. The placements are available to students who are the first in their family to apply for University or from low-income backgrounds. They are designed to give people an opportunity to expand their subject knowledge and research skills, uncover different career paths, and enhance applications to higher education. We asked this year’s students about their experiences at the Sanger Institute.
Student experiences
Vakaris Jurgilas
Vakaris Jurgilas worked on the BIOSCAN project which aims to study the genetic diversity of flying insects from across the UK.
“My placement went through the process of Bioscan, I went through making the malaise trap and then proceeded to do plating, PCR, and sequencing. This was a great experience.
“The best part was the learning that I did, as I personally love the process of learning.
“Doing the placement has given me a real insight into what scientists do and why, and it’s made my decision to go into medicine even more concrete.”
“Doing the placement has given me a real insight... it’s made my decision to go into medicine even more concrete.”
Becca Causton
"My placement focused on analysing the integrity of DNA samples according to their capture method. With the help of Robin Moll as my supervisor and many other lovely members of the team, we did this by capturing some dead samples, using pitfall traps with water, and some live samples. We then extracted, repaired, and amplified the DNA. Using the FemtoPulse to identify the best sample, that being a small beetle, we then sequenced it and used online BLAST software to identify the species.
"The best part of my placement was being able to experience what a working lab environment is like. As well as meeting people who taught me more about lab etiquette, technique, and how fascinating DNA is. Genetics is a field which has held my attention for quite some time so being able to be actively involved in my own research, benefiting Sanger, has been a dream.
"Taking part in this scheme has helped me massively to decide on my potential future career. I now firmly want to take part in a degree apprenticeship, so that I can continue lab work during my degree, and I want to be able to conduct my own research in the future."
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Becca preparing samples for genome sequencing
Becca Causton
"My placement focused on analysing the integrity of DNA samples according to their capture method. With the help of Robin Moll as my supervisor and many other lovely members of the team, we did this by capturing some dead samples, using pitfall traps with water, and some live samples. We then extracted, repaired, and amplified the DNA. Using the FemtoPulse to identify the best sample, that being a small beetle, we then sequenced it and used online BLAST software to identify the species.
"The best part of my placement was being able to experience what a working lab environment is like. As well as meeting people who taught me more about lab etiquette, technique, and how fascinating DNA is. Genetics is a field which has held my attention for quite some time so being able to be actively involved in my own research, benefiting Sanger, has been a dream.
"Taking part in this scheme has helped me massively to decide on my potential future career. I now firmly want to take part in a degree apprenticeship, so that I can continue lab work during my degree, and I want to be able to conduct my own research in the future."
20220802_094335
Becca preparing samples for genome sequencing
Jenna Elton
Jenna Elton worked with the DNA pipelines team to investigate if DNA fragment length could be increased for pathogen sequencing.
“My placement involved sequencing DNA samples, that we prepared under varied conditions, to see whether the length of DNA fragments could be increased from the standard of 150 base pairs (for exome sequencing) to 600-800 base pairs.
“My favourite part of the placement was learning about and completing the Hybridisation-based Target Enrichment for our sample.
“It has enhanced my passion for science, making me eager to study a science-related course at university.”
“It has enhanced my passion for science, making me eager to study a science-related course at university.”
Reflections from Sanger staff
Catarina Caetano
Catarina Caetano is an Advanced Research Assistant in the DNA Pipelines team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. She worked closely with Jenna throughout her two weeks at the Institute.
“It was a pleasure to host Jenna in our team for two weeks. Jenna was very interested in the project and always presented very relevant questions.
“It was interesting to find ways to communicate with someone with a different background and to get back to discussing the molecular biology basics. We really enjoyed this opportunity.”
Jenna-and-Cat_side_by_side_2
Jenna and Catarina together in the sequencing centre
Catarina Caetano
Catarina Caetano is an Advanced Research Assistant in the DNA Pipelines team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. She worked closely with Jenna throughout her two weeks at the Institute.
“It was a pleasure to host Jenna in our team for two weeks. Jenna was very interested in the project and always presented very relevant questions.
“It was interesting to find ways to communicate with someone with a different background and to get back to discussing the molecular biology basics. We really enjoyed this opportunity.”
Jenna-and-Cat_side_by_side_2
Jenna and Catarina together in the sequencing centre
Robin Moll
Robin is a Technical Specialist in long-read extracting in the DNA Pipelines team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
“Working with Becca, our Nuffield placement over the two weeks has been a rewarding experience. Becca was extremely keen to start and once settled into her project was very competent at quickly learning new skills and asking plenty of relevant questions.
“The process of designing a project was very enjoyable, especially as the project involved field work, which was a welcome change from working in the lab. I would recommend this scheme to any team looking to help develop the early career of future scientist.”
“I would recommend this scheme to any team looking to help develop the early career of future scientist.”
