The development of an organism appears as a chaotic combination of signaling events, stochastic gene expression behaviors, and cell movements. However, if we take a closer look, these behaviors have an order. This fits into the general observation that embryogenesis is patterned, precise, and robust, despite the stochastic nature of microscopic processes. During early development, …
Author Archives: courtneyl7
How developmental biology shaped my career path
I have long had the idea of perusing a career in science. However, that description was broad and I had no defined path sketched out in front of me. For the majority of my peers, they too had vague plans for the future. Many of them are still no wiser even after completing a degree …
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Michael Jordan
‘I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life… that’s why I succeed’ – Michael Jordan We all need some motivation from time to time. Here’s a reminder that even the best in the world fail in order to reach great heights.
Introduce Yourself (BIO)
I graduated from Durham University with an MBiol in biological sciences in 2020. Early on during my degree, I became immensely interested in the field of developmental biology which aims to understand how complex organisms form from a single cell. This non-trivial task requires a set of ‘instructions’ which are encoded by the genes within …
Of stripes, dots, and… body hair: The science of biological patterns
Astonishing biological patterns surround us from the stripes on a zebra to the hair follicles on our skin. In fact, you might devote a significant part of your life getting rid of body hair, but you would be amazed by the way that nature puts them there in the first place. You could even call …
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Miscellaneous
Tell me who I am – Netflix documentary (Directed by Ed Perkins, and produced by Simon Chinn) This is a gripping and remarkable documentary about the unique life of a pair of identical twins. It questions morality and highlights touching issues. What would you do if your twin lost their memory and you held the position …
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan – A hard rain’s a-gonna fall (The freewheelin’ Bob Dylan) Bob Dylan won The Nobel Prize in literature 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. A hard rain’s a-gonna fall is a poetic masterpiece. It creates vivid imagery open to our own imaginations, and sometimes we need …
Quotes
“I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space” – William Shakespeare (Hamlet). This quote is a beautiful way of saying that although we occupy a small space in the world, we have the ability to think beyond what is immediately in front of us. We can explore our thoughts whether that …
BEYOND THE LENS 