My name is Ditte, and I am probably not a typical PhD student in the molecular biological field: I like categorizing (some call me methodical, some call me autistic) and when I was working in the laboratory, I only really really liked it, if I could be pipetting all day and the result could be presented visually.
I am married to a wonderful marine engineer, who’s working abroad half of the time, and we have two (small) kids, Rikke and Lasse. This family constellation does not leave much time for experimental research, and therefore I decided to change field. I began looking for new opportunities in the nerdy science of molecular biology, in order to finish my PhD in a theoretical way. By chance I heard of the Visualization Lab at AU, and I contacted Rikke, who is head of the lab. Together we found a project well suited for me, and here I am. I will be spending the rest of my PhD, drawing a bacterium! How? Take a look at the “Stick to the basics of drawing a bacterium” menu. And if you're wondering whether I'll really be able to stick to the basics, I'll keep you updated in the menu "Does she stick to the basics?!?".
I will be drawing the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (also known as pneumococcus). It's the fourth leading cause of deadly infections in humans worldwide, and you can choose the menu "bad bac" if you'd like to get a short introduction to the bacterium.
It may sound easy, but it'll take a lot of work. In the menu "Pneumococcal cast" I'll make a list of all the proteins that I'll show in the final drawing. This will also include references and links to structures of the proteins. Of course there'll be some calculations (and assumptions) and these will get their own menu as well.
As you may have figured out by now, this webpage will serve as documentation of my work and the progress that I (hopefully) make during the rest of my time at Aarhus University.
If you have a comment for me about this project or any suggestions for improvements, I'd be very happy if you would send me a comment using the menu "Comments".
