Genetic Engineer
Laura is a genetic engineer. She has a degree and a doctorate in genetics. She is working on genetic engineering research at a university, although she did spend some time conducting research in the private sector. Laura specializes in genetically modified foods. She is trying to create a strain of maize (Indian corn) that will be more resistant to pests and diseases. This should increase the yield, since the plants will be healthier, and reduce production costs since there will be no need to use as much pesticide on the crop.
Laura visits her lab first thing in the morning to work on some experiments that she has left running overnight. Genetic engineering is a lengthy process, with many delicate stages. She is currently waiting to see how many of the plant cells have accepted the new gene that she has tried to add to them. She will take the cells that have been successfully engineered and use them to create adult plants. These will be tested for disease resistance, and assessed for productivity. Checking her results is vitally important.
After lunch, Laura joins the rest of the genetics department in a seminar, where they discuss recent developments in genetics research and Laura gives a brief presentation about her current work. Everyone in the department contributes to these seminars in turn, so that they can all keep up to date on each other's work, and learn about the techniques of other researchers. Some of the genetic engineering projects in the lab are concerned with plants, like Laura's work, while others work on human and animal cells. Many are attempting to find cures and treatments for diseases.
Laura spends the afternoon in her office, where she is available to offer advice to junior researchers or students. As well as supervising a student who is working on their PhD thesis, Laura teaches a class to undergraduate students at the university. She works on some notes for her next lecture, which will be on the ethics of genetic engineering, occasionally taking a break to discuss a problem with a visiting student.
