Profile
Alex Siddall
My CV
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Education:
THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA | BBSRC NRPDTP STUDENT
Expected Oct 2019 – 2023THE UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD
Sep. 2015 – Jul. 2019XAVERIAN COLLEGE
Sep 2013 – Aug 2015REDDISH VALE TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE
Sep 2008 – Aug 2013 -
Qualifications:
GCSE: 12 A*-As including English and Mathematics
A-LEVELS: Biology (B), Mathematics (B), Classical Civilisation (B)
BSc (HONS) BIOLOGY (MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR) 1st Class
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Work History:
Retail Assistant at USC Stockport 2013-2017
Research Intern at IGMM University of Edinburgh Summer 2018
Research Intern at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology 2018 & 2019
Brilliant Club Tutor 2019-Present
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Current Job:
PhD Student at the University of East Anglia
PhD Tutor for the Brilliant Club
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About Me:
I am a PhD student at the University of East Anglia working on pest insects.
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I currently live in Norwich where I recently moved to start my PhD. I am originally from Greater Manchester where I lived with my family including my cocker spaniel Finley. I spend a lot of my time playing basketball and play for my uni team. I also rock climb when I can find the time. I have got to travel a lot for science in my undergraduate which included living in Huddersfield, Edinburgh and Japan. I spend most of my downtime going out with friends, watching Netflix and gaming. My pronouns are she/her.
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My work is aiming to genetically modify (change the DNA) of medfly so that all the female flies become male flies. This means the flies can’t lay their eggs into crops and damage them. The reasons for doing this is because medfly can feed on over 300 species of fruit and vegetable and cause a lot of food crop losses worldwide. I spend a lot of my time taking care of the flies that I keep in my lab. Medfly are a pest species which are not usually in the UK so I have to be very careful they don’t escape. Most of my time is spent putting together bits of DNA which can be used to edit the DNA of the flies.
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My Typical Day:
When I get into work I usually check on the flies first thing and then go back to my office to have my morning tea or coffee (I am not a morning person) and do any admin work I need to. After that I spend my time split between the lab messing with DNA, looking after the flies or doing some work on my computer.
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Looking after the flies includes a lot of things. Adults need feeding once a week and new water twice a week. The flies lay eggs into water pots which need collecting and putting on new food in bottles, when these flies mature a bit these bottles are put in sand. The young flies (larvae) then crawl out into the sand to form a hard shell called pupae in which they develop into adult flies and then hatch from. The picture below shows my fly lab with the different boxes all having some flies in.
The bit of my work I like the most is being in the lab where I get to run experiments to try and make the DNA which will be used to edit the flies’ DNA. This involves a lot of work including looking at the flies DNA and copying the bits I am interested in. When I have designed and put together the bits of DNA I want, these then have to be put into a bacteria called E.coli which can make lots of copies of the DNA for me to use. This can involve spending a lot of time looking at tiny amounts of liquid but the end result is interesting.
The rest of my time is mostly spent in my office. I have to read a lot of papers to find more information and techniques. I also have to order all the stuff for my experiments, keep a record of everything I am doing and plan my future experiments. I have a big office with other researchers so we also spend time talking about our ideas (and occasionally distracting each other from working). We usually find time for atleast one coffee break in the day to get a break from working. Although it isn’t every day, I also spend time teaching both undergraduate students at my uni and school students.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, Chaotic, Active
What did you want to be after you left school?
A Doctor
Were you ever in trouble at school?
If you count when the whole class was in trouble
Who is your favourite singer or band?
It changes far too often
What's your favourite food?
Pasta
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Technology to reverse human damage to the planet, limitless resources, ability to teleport
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