I took this shot in the Fall of 2001 when I was a first year graduate student rotating in Dr. Bob Duronio's fruit fly genetics lab. These are chromosome spreads from larval brains. Whereas humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, fruit flies have only 4. In this image, the chromosomes from two cells are shown. From the cell at the top, you can make out all 8 chromosomes. The pair of X chromosomes are "v" shaped, whereas both chromosomes 2 and 3 are "x" shaped. Chromosome 4 is very small and looks like a dot (in the cell in the lower right, only one Chromosome 4 is visible. The other is likely hidden below one of the larger chromosomes).
I came across these and similar images as I was sorting through a stack of CDs on my desk at work. After almost six years as a research scientist at UNC, I'm hanging up my pipetteman for the last time today. As I've been sorting through six years worth of accumulated belongings, I've found myself being reminded of many things I'd long ago forgotten. As such, it seemed fitting to use today's blog entry to take a trip down memory lane to the beginning of my graduate career. These have been six wonderful years.
Moving forward, it's possible that I may never again be a scientist by title or by trade, but I hope that I am always a scientist by mindset.
6 comments:
Six great years for many many reasons. Today is not an end, but the beginning of another step of many more great years.
Buzz!
Goodbye Norma Gene.
Or maybe it's "Goodbye Normal Gene"?
Seems to me, you lived your life like a pipette in the wind.
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