As I come to my final year in university, I am beginning to think about what I want to do after I graduate.

The seminars and lectures I have attended this year, and throughout my time in university, have prepared me for my future career.

Although I hope to be successful in obtaining a job in the molecular biology and biotechnology sector, the seminars I have attended have widened my knowledge of many fields.

They have taught me how different fields work together to achieve a particular goal, for example using molecular biology to help conservation which I learnt in Alex Papodopolous’ talk on illegal wildlife trade.

After I graduate, I hope to do a masters in molecular biology and biotechnology at Bangor University.

This masters will allow me to develop greater laboratory skills, important knowledge to have in this field.

I will also understand the various biotechnological applications which we have the ability to carry out today.

The molecular biology and biotechnology masters interests me as its contents contain many interesting and exciting fields, such as marine biotechnology.

It will allow me to gain some knowledge of the pharmaceutical and medical industry, and how biotechnological applications aid them – something which I find extremely interesting.

The seminars aided me with a lot of interesting topics, and allowed me to listen to other people’s research in different fields – potentially something I would have never had the opportunity to do.

The seminars confirmed my hope and desire to succeed in the biotechnological industry, and I hope in a few years that I will be working in this sector.

The seminars taken by Clare Brass on career planning and interviewing aided me with the necessary knowledge to prepare me for this when it is time to apply for a job.

Although I have written many CVs throughout the past years, with my next one being a graduate one it will be different from the rest, and Clare provided me with the important content to include.

She also highlighted the importance in fully researching your potential job role, something I feel is very important.

The lecture on interviews was very useful, as I have never had a serious interview before and don’t really know what to expect, the knowledge Clare provided will be useful when I begin to apply for graduate jobs in the future.

I think the most important lecture from this module was on social media. As I don’t have Twitter or Facebook, this worried me as Christian mentioned the importance of social media when looking for a job and how potential employers may see you.

Science and employability skills have helped me to plan for my future career, as I have began to look at potential employers and research them further to determine where I would like to work once I graduate.

Over the last few years, chemists, physicists and biologists have made huge advancements in the field of medicine.

Today, there is a considerable number of inherited genetic diseases affecting a large number of individuals.

The most common genetic diseases are cystic fibrosis, and spinal muscular atrophy. Both of which cause deterioration as time goes on.

Up until the 1990s, there was no such thing as gene therapy and the ability to treat a genetic disorder using therapeutical technology.

Gene therapy involves modifying our DNA by replacing a faulty gene for a healthy gene, in order to prevent the faulty gene from being transcribed.

One of the most widely known forms of gene therapy is a system called CRISPR Cas9, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat.

CRISPR Cas9 was first identified by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier in 2012 in a Streptococcus bacteria.

CRISPR Cas9 is based upon a bacterial immune system, but in the labs of Doudna and Charpentier, it was though that the system could allow scientists to modify faulty genes in the genome.

This system modifies our DNA by making a cut in the faulty gene and inserting a new functional healthy gene.

This allows an individual with, for example, a disease such as cystic fibrosis, to lead an almost normal life.

This system is very successful, but like all genomic technologies, it does come with some problems.

The CRISPR Cas9 system has to make a double stranded break for it to disrupt the faulty gene and to insert the healthy gene.

Making a double stranded break within the human genome is something which should be avoided, as it can lead to translocations and mutations which can be oncogenic.

For this reason, another system called ‘Prime Editing’ has been discovered, which removes the need to make a double stranded break within the genome.

There are some similarities with this system and with CRISPR Cas9, however, the Prime Editing system makes a single strand break in one strand of the DNA at the faulty gene site, which is then replaced with a healthy DNA strand.

The strands, however, don’t match up and will not produce the functional gene.

The unedited strand will edit itself so it is a replicate of the edited strand, resulting in a functional gene.

Therapeutic editing does have some ethical issues, as we are genetically modifying our DNA.

It poses the question whether we are able to make designer babies, which again sparks a lot of ethical views.

When designing new ways of gene editing, it is important to understand the consequences which may come with a certain system, and systems such as CRISPR Cas9 and various others indicate the advancements which therapeutics have made.

The field of therapeutics and gene therapy has sparked my interest for a future career as the field is rapidly advancing and its technologies will only get better.

Depending on your experience and qualifications, and how you come across in your CV, you may be invited to an interview.

Interviews are a way in which an employer can determine the type of person you are, and whether you are right for the particular job.

Some employers have assessment centres, instead of interviews. This again allows them to see whether your characteristics and knowledge is right for the job.

The interview is the main factor in a job application which gets you the job, as it tells them who you really are.

The employers want to know whether your enthusiastic and whether you have the essential characteristics which will allow you to be successful in your position.

Although interviews are important for potential employees, they are just as important for employers – as it is an important decision which has to to made, they want to employ someone who will fit in and benefit their company or business, as it will allow them to succeed also

A lot of organisations use a scoring techniques which allocates scores based upon specification criteria and how you may answer a question or a scenario.

During your interview you have to prove to your potential employers:

• that you understand the potential role which you are applying for, and the requirements it entails.
• that you have knowledge and future possibilities on the company or business, and demonstrate this in a clear way.
• that you are suited to the potential role, how are you more suited to it than someone else.
• that you will be enthusiastic and accept the challenges which come with the role.

It is essential to prepare for an interview, not just for the interview but how to get there and ensuring that you arrive on time, this will give a good first impression.

There will be many different questions which interviewers will ask:

• top and tail questions – these are for you to give a good first impression as they are asking about you, it also allows you to end on a good impression.
• job technical questions – these are for you to demonstrate what you know about the particular company or business and why you want to work for them.
• competency questions – these allow them to get an idea of how you may fit into the role based upon your knowledge or experience.
• situational questions – these allows them to understand how you would handle a particular situation.

Although interviews may be scary and nerve wracking, they offer essential experience.

Even if your first graduate job interview may not be great, there will be others and the first one will act as a practice and offer experience for future interviews.

The knowledge from this talk has prepared me for potential future interviews, I didn’t know what is expected at an interview and what to prepare for, and this talk has gave me some important insight to allow me to be successful.

Almost everyone has some form of social media nowadays, whether it be to keep up with the latest news, or to keep in contact with friends and family, it is a way in which people are able to interact.

Many job seekers are unaware that potential employers will search them on social media platforms during the recruitment process.

The main social media platforms used are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, however it isn’t uncommon for others to be searched during the recruitment process.

Surprisingly, around 95% of employers will look at a potential employees social media when undergoing the recruitment process, and it is highly likely that your social media will greatly influence your chances of getting a job.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/careers/social – The university of Sheffield has a useful video on how employers use your social media.

Social media is a platform which allows a job seeker to keep up to date with any available job in their desired field, and can possibly act as a tool for interacting with potential employers and companies.

Employers can do a google search on you during the recruitment process, which will direct them to your social media pages and any papers which you may have published.

The ability for an employer to do this allows them to get a better understanding for the type of person you are, and whether you are right for the particular job.

Through studies, it has been found that a large number of employers won’t even interview a potential candidate if they have a limited form of social media – this highlights the impact that social media can have on your career.

With social media greatly influencing your employability, you want to ensure that it promotes some professionalism about yourself and the type of employee you would be.

There are many tips and tricks which may increase your chances of being employed, and sometimes your profile may even interest potential employers depending upon who you follow.

Social media is a great way in which people can interact with potential employers and keep up to date with the relevant jobs, but it does, however, have some negatives to it as it could deter an employer from hiring you.

This talk gave me a better understanding as to how potential employers use social media during the recruitment process.

Personally, I don’t have Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, which worries me as now I know how much social media can impact the likelihood of getting a job.

It has made me think about the need to develop a platform on Twitter and Facebook as it will allow me to research potential employers, and possibly keep up to date with their current research.

As I am hoping to obtain a career in biotechnology, I think it is important to keep up to date with the relevant research in this rapidly expanding field, and the current projects which companies are taking part in.

This blog was inspired by a talk by Clare Brass, Bangor University.

We have all probably wrote many CVs in our lives, but for me the most important one will be the one which will hopefully gain me my dream job.

Career planning

Before you apply to your dream job, you need to do your research and ensure that that job is right for you – as you may be there for a while!

It is essential that you understand yourself, and what you’re good and what motivates you.

You may prefer to work independently or enjoy working in a team, there are various jobs in all sectors which have different job environments, knowing which is best for you is important.

The main topics you need to research:

• roles and responsibilities of the job
• what is expected of you
• the requirements – this may be qualifications and experience
• job salary
• working hours
• family friendly – will you be able to take maternity/paternity leave
• where the job is based
• what are their main roles

All of these things are important to research when you’re interested in a particular job or field.

There are numerous websites and channels which can help you prepare for a future career, and also there are people you can speak to to gain advice from them.

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/biotechnologist – This is a link to a biotechnologist career on prospects, a career planning website which I use frequently when researching potential job roles.

Social media can allow you to keep up to date with potential careers and jobs available in your desired field – I talk about this in another blog .

Graduate CVs

CVs are basic, they don’t have to be over the top, just simple and easy to read.

Your CV will essentially determine whether you will get an interview or not, because if your CV is bad, employers won’t want to invite you to interview – it is so important to get this right!

You want to come across professional to your potential employers and stand out from the other candidates, as there will be a lot of competition once you graduate.

What to include in your CV:

• your education, what qualifications do you have
• your relevant experience
• why you fit the job role
• what personal hobbies you may have

Your CV will allow the employer to get an impression of what type of person you are, as this will be selection based upon not speaking to you in person, ensuring you present yourself professionally on your CV is vital.

From reading your CV employers will get an impression of who you are and whether you are right for the role based upon your qualifications and experiences.

This lecture has prepared me for when I start to look for a job once I graduate, I think it is important to do your research on the job role and ensure you prepare an excellent CV.

This blog is inspired by a lecture which was given by Alex Papodopulos.

What is the illegal wildlife trade?

• The illegal wildlife trade is when poachers kill animals for their skin, fur and bones for example.
• For example, an elephant would be killed for their tusks as they are used for medicinal purposes in some countries.

With climate change and habitat destruction already reducing the populations of these species, the need to prevent the illegal killing of these animals for their appendages is a must.

Alex went on to say that we could incorporate molecular biology and use molecular markers as a way of detecting the illegal trade of protected animals, and to stop poachers in their tracks.

What are molecular markers?

• Molecular markers are a region of the DNA which could be specific to that species to help identify what it is.

When poachers kill animals and prepare to sell them, they remove most of their morphological features which are specific to that species.

Removing these features allows the species to be unidentified based upon morphological features alone, and most of the time allows the poacher to get away with it!

Incorporating molecular markers into this field is essential, as it allows conservation management and law enforcement to tackle the problem effectively.

Animals such as sharks, elephants, wolves, parrots, and many more face this problem everyday, and is dramatically reducing their numbers in the wild.

For example, shark fishing is a big problem in many countries, such as Brazil. There is a lot of money to be made as the demand for shark fins for shark fin soup is high in Asian countries.

With only the fin to go off, it is difficult to detect what species the shark is. As some sharks are protected, ensuring the fins aren’t from these species is essential.

Molecular markers come in useful here, as they help to identify the species of which the fin belongs to based upon its DNA.

This process acts as a deterrent to poachers and to conserve those species of sharks, parrots and many more animals which are protected.

It also allows law enforcement to be put into place into areas which are subject to high amounts of poachers.

https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-we-do/stopping-illegal-wildlife-trade – This is a link to the WWF website on the importance of stopping the illegal wildlife trade.

This lecture opened my eyes to the possibilities and advancemtns of molecular biology, using this process in the illegal wildlife trade was something which I didn’t know before.

As conservation is one of the most important things, especially with climate change increasing, finding new methods and incorporating new techniques to help is important.

As I am hoping to do a masters in molecular biology and biotechnology, this interested me and possibly a future career opportunity.

A talk by Matt Geary from Chester University.

In order to study animals and their conservation in the wild, it is important that we are able to detect them.

As Matt pointed out, some animals are easier to detect than others based upon their size, colour and sometimes even behaviour.

Understanding the best way to detect a particular species will allow you to carry out the study in the best way in order for you to get the best results.

Matt and his team were studying two different parrot species in the Dominican Republic, they were Hispaniolan parakeet (Psittacara chloropterus) and Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis).

It is well known that parrot species are probably the most threatened orders of birds, with around 30% of them being endangered.

The main factors which contribute to their loss in numbers are habitat destruction, the illegal wildlife trade, and invasive species.

The two species are very similar physically, with the main different being that Hispaniolian parakeet is of a smaller size.

Not much was known about the Hispaniolan parakeet, as they weren’t spotted frequently, and its habitat wasn’t known.

The study undertaken by Matt and his team was to try and understand the habitats of the Hispaniolan parakeet in order to effectively conserve the species and put some management into place to protect them.

Matt and his team only found the presence of Hispaniolan parakeets in the urban areas within the city and away from the agricultural areas, which was surprising.

They found populations in old buildings and building sites but didn’t find any breeding sites, so it asked the question as to how these species were able to sustain their populations within the city, as they weren’t found anywhere else.

Parrots are very vulnerable and subjected to many threats, it is therefore important to full understand them in order to conserve them, something which Matts study aimed to do for the Hispaniolan parakeet species.

To understand whether certain conditions or physical attributes contribute the the Hispaniolan parakeets success of urban living, he looked at other bird species which are also found in urban areas.

From his results, only one bird species was of a larger size which may indicate that a small size could be contributing to urban living.

To try and determine whether characteristics, such as size were contributing to urban living, Matt conducted some statistical analysis but found no relationship between any characteristics and adaptability.

As Matt indicated, there are still many questions to be answered about the species and how it is able to sustain its numbers in that habitat.

The study indicates how important it is to understand the habitat and the ecology of a species in order for you to conserve it.

Although I don’t want a career in conservation, it is interesting how statistical analyses have been used to try and answer the questions in this study.

A talk by Olga Golyshina, Bangor University.

This lecture highlighted how microbiology has changed over the last few years.

Microbiology has greatly changed over the last few years, possibly due to the advent of new DNA sequencing technologies and the genomic revolution.

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek

The ability to study microorganisms started when Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek invented the first microscope in the late sixteen hundreds.

This simple microscope changed dramatically over the years into more complex and sophisticated structures, such as the electron microscope and the cryo-electron microscope.

Ferdinand Cohn

Ferdinand Cohn introduced a systematic classification of bacteria based upon their morphology and divided them into four groups; spherical, short rods, longer rods, and spiral.

The ability to classify microorganisms into specific groups based upon their morphology, in that time, was an advancement.

Louis Pasteur

Pasteur studied the question ‘does spontaneous generation occur’, via famous experiments.

Through his experiments, he rejected, then proved, the thought that organisms could spontaneously arise from non living matter.

As his name may suggest, he is most commonly known today for his invention of pasteurization and the preservation of products, such as milk, wine and beer – a process which involves high temperatures to kill microorganisms.

Along with pasteurization, Pasteur developed a process known as tyndallisation which sterilises food products.

Joseph Lister

Lister was a surgeon and has been named “the father of English antiseptic surgery”.

Lister introduced the method of serial dilution, which is important for the isolation and culture of microorganisms.

Robert Koch

Koch was called “the father of medical microbiology”, as he studied many diseases.

He founded the discovery of numerous diseases, and distinguished the bacteria which caused them.

Koch studied the relationship between Bacillus anthracis and Anthrax disease, and he discovered that tuberculosis was caused by a rod-shaped bacterium.

His techniques are still used today in the classification of disease causing bacteria.

Koch introduced the ‘postulates of Koch’, these are important in both medical microbiology and in environmental microbiology, and they allow for studies to determine the relationship between the microorganism and the disease.

These postulates are still used greatly today.

Sergei Winogradsky

Winogradsky was named “the father of environmental microbiology”, due to his studies on soil microbiology and mircrobial ecology.

He is possibly most famously known for his discovery of chemosynthesis, in which organisms obtain energy from chemical reactions.

He also developed the Winogradsky column, a small microbial ecosystem, in which one can study the microorganisms which form, this is still used today.

Winogradsky studied biogeochemical cycles and how microorganisms contribute to them.

There were many discoveries which have contributed to microbiology and their present studies.

Without many of these discoveries and developments, what we know now about microorganisms would not have been possible.

This talk highlighted the importance of these discoveries, and the contribution these microbiologists made.

A talk by James Mcdonald, Bangor University.

As the effects of climate change are rapidly increasing, the need to protect flora species becomes increasingly important.

With forests and woodlands globally ensuring species diversity, tree health is a major concern.

Within the last 30 years, UK trees have experienced a major increase of disease outbreak which is causing many species of tree to decline, resulting in a reduction of biodiversity- which has negative impacts of the ecosystem, as James explained.

Oak trees are one of the most important tree species within the UK, due to their ability to contain large amounts of carbon – as James highlighted.

Acute oak decline is a disease which affects Oak trees throughout the UK, it is characterised by vertical stem bleeds throughout the trunk of the tree.

By studying the inner bark, James and his team determined, through isolation studies, that it was microorganisms which were the cause of acute oak decline in oak trees – rather than the previous assumption of beetle larvae.

Although, the beetle larvae were responsible for the spread of the disease causing bacteria through the lesions within the bark.

The isolation of microorganisms within the lesion of the bark allowed for the identification of the two disease causing bacteria – Brenneria goodwinii and Gibssiella quercinecans.

Oak trees, like humans, have a microbiome which acts to protect them from invading pathogens which may cause a disease such as acute oak decline.

Through the use of metagenomics for the study of the microbiome in oak trees, it was determined that the microbiome of the healthy oak trees and the symptomatic oak trees were quite different – indicating that the microbiome impacts the health of the species.

Through metatranscriptome analysis, the transcription of particular genes in both healthy and symptomatic genes were studied, with a variation in gene expression seen in both the pathogens and the tree in each case.

This study interested me as it highlights the advancement that genomic technology has made, as without metagenomics or transcriptomics for example, the knowledge obtained from this study would not have been possible.

As I am interested in a career in biotechnology, this study emphasises the use of such technologies, and how they can be used to help protect species and reduce the impact of climate change – possibly a future career pathway?

With climate change becoming an increasing problem, the ability to conserve species by studying them, will allow them to be better conserved in a time where they face extreme decline.