• Question: What do you most like about chemistry and working with the human body?

    Asked by anon-256638 on 9 Jun 2020. This question was also asked by anon-256843.
    • Photo: Alex Holmes

      Alex Holmes answered on 9 Jun 2020:

      Omg there’s so many things it’s hard to pick one thing I like the most!

      One of the best things is that I study some of the tiniest parts of the body – called proteins – and to study them I have to use a mixture of chemistry, biology and physics, as well as “wet lab” and computer experiments. So, every day is different because one day I’ll be in a computer lab making simulations, the next day I’ll be working with chemists to design chemicals that might change how the proteins I study work, the day after I might be growing cells in the lab!

      I also really really like the idea that when we find out what a protein looks like we’re seeing some of the SMALLEST working parts of the body – some scientists even call them “the molecules of life”. Seeing our bodies on the smallest scale and where the atoms and bonds are just blows my mind every time I think about it 🙂

    • Photo: James Beswick

      James Beswick answered on 12 Jun 2020:

      My favourite bit of medicinal chemistry (my research area) is the fact that I get to make molecules which no-one else has ever made before, at the same time as (potentially) helping to understand more about certain diseases. It’s a win/win!

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