Inés researches about mechanisms in chromosomes

Inés Hernandez Crego works as a PhD student at the Department of Molecular Biology. Here, she studies fruit flies, the focus of her research. 

ImageFrida Endertorp

Inés Hernández Crego wanted to study something within the natural science field, but had a hard time deciding on what. She eventually realized that she wanted to study something in the branch of Life Science. In Umeå, she found the Bachelor’s Programme in Life Science.

"I felt like I had a lot to learn about the available disciplines within biology before I could choose one. This programme felt like a great way to get a broad base in most of the areas of the life sciences" Inés says.

In the Bachelor’s Programme, Inés studied both chemistry and molecular biology. She took a liking to the latter, and during her third year at the programme, she chose to specialize in molecular biology.

"I think it’s so interesting to understand, that there are super tiny things you can’t see, that are involved in very complex processes that keep us alive. I remember studying DNA repair and becoming aware of that it’s going on inside your body as we speak" Inés says.

After graduation, Inés continued with the Master’s Programme in Molecular Biology. Looking back at her education, she is very content, especially over that she has gotten a good picture over how the scientific process works.

"You might think of scientists as super smart people that have a great idea, and then they get the Nobel prize right away. But everything is so much slower and takes more time and patience, and days of just thinking. Science is slow. It’s still exciting, but in a different way" Inés says.

”The future of society”

Today, Inés is a PhD student at the Department of Molecular Biology. Her research is about mechanisms of regulation of gene expression, from specific chromosomes in fruit flies.

"Gene output from the chromosomes needs to be controlled, so that everything works in the way that it should. Most gene products are proteins, which are responsible for all functions in the cell, including controlling gene expression itself. There is an important group of proteins, that specifically bind and control expression from chromosome X. That is fascinating, because how can the system distinguish what the chromosome X is as opposed to the other chromosomes?" Inés says.

Inés finds her research to be very interesting and thrives with the flexibility that her work provides.

"As long as you’re producing work that is of the required quality, then it doesn’t really matter if one day you work more or less. You have your own personal life to deal with, and that can be tricky at times. The flexibility provides a lot of freedom and peace of mind, which is especially important for tasks where you have to be very careful not to make mistakes" Inés says.

Inés also mentions that there are many work opportunities within the field, both in academia and the industry.

"The area of genetics and molecular medicine is basically the future of society. A lot of new treatments that are coming out are based on CRISPR/Cas9 or some other genetic treatment. Someone with my degree can be competitive from a market perspective. If not in Umeå, then elsewhere in the world" Inés says.

“It just keeps surprising you”

Inés is originally from Burela in Spain. Before moving to Umeå, she heard others voicing concern about Umeå being a small town where very little happens. But Inés herself doesn’t think that it’s true to Umeå.

"One of the things with Umeå is that it keeps surprising me is the number of activities you can do, but maybe don’t know about. For an example, there is going to be an ice disco at Nolia ice rink. There are pottery classes at Ersboda, and I recently discovered a club that provides gymnastics lessons for adults. It just keeps surprising you" Inés says.

Inés is also happy with how the education system worked. She especially appreciated the structure of the courses and the many hours that were devoted to the examination, which decreased a lot of stress. However, what she found to be harder in Umeå was finding a place to stay.

"If you think about moving here, start signing up to the housing queues in advance, just so that you have more options by the time you get here" Inés says.

Read more about the Bachelor's programme in Life Science

Read more about the Master's programme in Molecular Biology

Interview & photo: Frida Endertorp