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Mixing high-level biology and full-on rugby
Julianne Stack studied biotechnology in NUI Galway and then did a PhD in viral immune evasion signalling in Trinity College Dublin. She currently works as a molecular biologist in the Conway Institute at University College Dublin (UCD). Outside the lab, one of her biggest interests is rugby, which she originally took up to relieve study stress. Julianne has always been interested in science, as both of her parents are science teachers. They always encouraged her to think about how the world works and how the body works - like why you get sick when you get an infection. She now studies DNA and protein in cells and most of her work is at a bench in a laboratory. At the moment, she is studying mammary gland development. Mammary glands are the milk-secreting organ of female mammals. Kylie Minogue "In mammary gland development, like any other organ, cell survival and cell death are very highly regulated," says Julianne. "If cell replication goes out of control, a tumour can result." This is commonly found in women - a lump in the breast. This was highlighted in recent times when Kylie Minogue found such a lump and had to have treatment for breast cancer. "The way we study mammary gland development is by growing mammary cells in plastic dishes in incubators at normal body temperature, which is 37 degrees, and then by adding on the correct combination of hormones, we can see them developing into normal mammary type cells," she says. "However if you put on these hormones with inhibitors, or else leave out some of these hormones, abnormal cells will result, and we can study the differences in these normal and abnormal cells." Women's rugby Julianne says she loves the sense of satisfaction that she gets when she finds a really good result or breakthrough in research. She says she'd love to stay in the academic world: "I'd love to be a lecturer with a research group of my own," she says. In her spare time, Julianne plays second row for Old Belvedere women's rugby team in Dublin. This position means she has to jump in the line-out and be in the second-row in the scrum. She takes her rugby seriously, training three times a week and playing matches almost every Sunday. She has just been selected to train with the Leinster squad. She started playing rugby early in her PhD as a stress-relief mechanism but she also enjoys the social aspect of the sport. Learn more: Visit the Conway Institute online Check out the TCD biochemistry site Find out more about breast cancer Visit Old Belvedere women's rugby team |
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