It may have been one of the hottest summers on record, but my summer remained cool (and at times < -150 °C) whilst I carried out a research project in the air-conditioned and well-equipped MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. Alongside my supervisor, Dr Juan Rodríguez, a postdoc in Dr Lori Passmore's lab, I joined their investigation into the function and interactions made by a very important protein complex, the Cleavage and Polyadenylation Factor (CPF).
CPF modifies RNA, an intermediate molecule during the decoding of DNA to protein, by adding a string of adenosines (A) forming a poly(A) tail. Before adding the tail, CPF cleaves RNA, hence the cleavage part of CPF. During my project, I focused on the components of CPF involved in cleaving RNA and how they might be regulated. My experiments allowed me to use a variety of genetic, biochemical and structural biology techniques from flash-freezing cells in liquid nitrogen, protein purification to growing protein crystals, and preparing libraries for next-generation sequencing.
All in all, I had a great summer and am very grateful to the MRC for funding the project and to the lab, for providing the perfect blend of mentoring and entertainment. I have gained much more lab confidence and am now excited to further pursue my career in scientific research!
Eleanor is an undergraduate student reading Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She is about to begin her fourth year, which includes a research project in the laboratory of Professor Jussi Taipale in the Department of Biochemistry.
