• Question: Have you ever discovered something new?

    Asked by anon-186566 to Verity, Trystan, Raquel, Danny, Catherine, Andy on 6 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Trystan Leng

      Trystan Leng answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      Recently, my research has looked at what effect people being in more than one relationship at the same time might have on the success of a vaccination campaign against an STI like HPV. Its something we think nobody has looked at before! We found that, when making vaccination models, the overall rate that people are forming partnerships is more important to know than the specific level of people in more than one relationship.

    • Photo: Danny Ward

      Danny Ward answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      As a PhD student I have to discover new scientific findings and publish it in a big book called a thesis. I am currently researching how a bacteria called Pseudomonas is able to infect using a type of biological nanomachine it makes – it looks like a tiny biological needle and it can inject nasty toxins and proteins in to its host. This is usually us! I am working on how this thing works. So far I have discovered more about the function of this nanomachine, an important molecule that controls it and important bits thats we could potential target to stop it working.

    • Photo: Verity Hill

      Verity Hill answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      We all have to discover new things! Part of doing science is picking one bit you find cool and finding something that nobody has done with it. It’s part of what makes science really exciting!
      For example, nobody has used the types of experiments and models that I’m using to look at public health in Sierra Leone during Ebola. I have not got any results yet, but when I have, I will have found something new!

    • Photo: Raquel Medialdea Carrera

      Raquel Medialdea Carrera answered on 8 Nov 2018:

      During my PhD, I studied a virus called Zika Virus. This virus caused a massive epidemic in South and Central America in 2015 and 2016. I then investigated the damage that Zika Virus was causing to children and adults and discover that it was associated with a wide range of clinical presentations, much bigger than what it was thought before.
      This discovery will help to diagnose patients and to improve the treatment that they receive!

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