Bryan
Day and QIMR Research
Jessica
Fittock
Bryan
Day entered university with an interest in the food industry
and nutrition and dietics, undertaking an Applied Science
Degree at the University of Newcastle.
He worked in recruitment and training as he had an interest
in working with and helping disadvantaged people. He also
worked as a Nutritionist in a clinical setting assisting people
with nutritional and food related diseases.
He became interested in medical research in his mid twenties
and undertook honors in science through the University of
Queensland and now is currently completing a PhD which all
going well will be completed next year.
When this is completed he hopes to travel abroad and continue
his career in medical research. Currently, Bryan Day works
in Brain Cancer Research at the Leukemia Foundation at the
Queensland Institute of Medical Research. During my time with
Bryan Day on the 12th of April, I was able to gain insight
into his research and also observe the work of other scientists
at the QIMR Laboratories.
To begin with, Bryan provided samples of malignant brain cells
to view under the microscope. Many of these were clustered
in neurospheres, balls of cells that were easily visible to
the human eye. Later, these samples were chemically broken
apart and treated to continue growing the culture.
Other, healthier single brain cells could be observed reaching
out to others cells by tracing their chemical signatures,
a movement also known as chemotaxis. Brian said that it was
incredible how they were able to rearrange their structure
in order to generate this kind of movement. After studying
these cells, I observed as he worked on some of the cultures,
going over sterilization techniques and tissue culture handling.
Although the processing was done in a sterile environment,
moving your hand directly over one of the cultures caused
them to be labeled as non sterile and no longer usable. When
taking and capping samples, Bryan always approached with his
hand to the side. Most of the equipment had to be disposed
of after a single use.
After lunch, there was a free presentation on lipid traces
within cancerous cells that I and Brian Day attended. It explored
how the levels of a certain lipid varied between healthy and
cancerous cells and presented a milestone in cancer research.
Most of it was completely over my head, but it came across
as good news and everyone seemed interested and pleased with
the progress.
After that, I was shown some other research being conducted
around the laboratory. One scientist was graphing the spread
of blood cells using a high tech machine linked to a computer.
Having the majority of cells fall within a certain range represented
a healthy person.
She also showed me an aquarium of zebra fish they used in
their research. These were ideal for genetic engineering as
they laid eggs as opposed to giving birth to live young like
mice do. This is beneficial from an ethical point of view
as the adult fish did not have to be killed in order to get
to the juveniles.
Not all the genetic engineering had visible effects on the
fish, but I was told that the group in one tank glowed fluorescent
green under ultra violet light. The scientists at QIMR were
very conscious of the fishes’ well being. There was even suggestion
of applying for a grant to get a plasma screen television
for the fish so they could be bought up in a more stimulating
environment. I have no doubt that the fish would receive constant
care and attention if the proposal was approved.
Spending the day at QIMR laboratories was an amazing experience.
I was able to gain valuable insight into brain cancer and
leukemia research on a level of involvement far beyond that
of a high school classroom particularly given the range, depth
and quality of the studies being carried out.
Overall, Bryan Day and other researchers at the Queensland
Institute of Medical Research are doing a brilliant and thorough
job of exploring possible links between proteins and brain
cancer as well as studying leukemia.
They all share a common passion for helping people. Their
research will hopefully someday result in benefits for sufferers
by finding a treatment for these diseases, sparing sufferers
and their families of the trauma they cause.
Below: QIMR scientist at the zebra fish aquarium, 12-4-2006.
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