Sigma BioBlogs

Ricardo Reis of the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto

The last two winters, our Your Favorite Gene team has held a Holiday Gene contest. Our 2010 winner is Ricardo Reis, from Portugal.

Where did your bio begin?

My bio began in my first year of Medical School at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto. It is located in the city of Oporto, in the northern part of Portugal.  The Molecular and Cell Biology lab opened one-year vacancies for an extra-credit internship at their lab.   I was keen on research, so I applied and got one of the vacancies. After the year and the extra-credit,  I was invited to stay.  So, to my great pleasure, I became a member of that team.  It is thanks to them that I still do research in biological sciences.

What inspired you to become a biologist?

I am training to be a physician, and I think that research in biosciences should be a compulsory part of every medical doctor’s curriculum.

I love the complexity of biological systems and their unpredictability.   I think it is this challenge that keeps me going, searching for answers.  Indeed, for me, research is always about the passion for knowledge.

Tell us about your research.

I am currently studying the post-translational modifications – (PTMs) of a homeodomain transcription factor which is crucial for the development of nociceptive afferents and their 2nd order relay neurons in the Central Nervous System (CNS).
It is subject to a number of PTMs which may impact its ability to bind to other proteins and activate its transcriptional program. Although my focus is mainly on the PTMs, we are also trying to unravel its partners and devise efficient assays to measure its transcriptional activity.

Do you plan to tend to patients as a physician and continue your research?

That is certainly a future goal and that’s where I like to picture myself in 5-years time.  However, I am well aware of the demands of being both, and I am afraid that one of them will be preponderant.  I don’t know which one I’ll be:  either a PHYSICIAN-researcher or a physician-RESEARCHER.

What genes won the contest?

For Christmas- SNTA 1 – syntrophin alpha 1…or Santa

ADAM7 – protease, or the inital seven members of the Addam’s family (halloween themed)

People across the United States are preparing turkeys,  sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and many other delicious delicacies for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Feast.

One of the traditions for Thanksgiving, is to express gratitude for the happenings of the previous year.

Today, the Sigma Life Science blog staff would like to give thanks for the science community.  We took a chance this year on using social media to get in touch with the larger science community, and the reaction has been one of warm welcome and great discussion.

Pumpkin pie, like my mom is making (courtesy Wikimedia commons)

Here are just a few of the scientists who have participated in our Where Bio Begins world since January 2010! We thank them, and you all for being a part of this great year.

• Where does your bio begin? Thanks to all who entered fascinating photos, videos, and stories on how bio began for them!
• John Rinn – Harvard researcher solving the mysteries of large non-coding RNA’s, and making time for tricks and turns on the snow runs.
• Tara De Silva – by day she’s Probing White matter studying oligodendrocytes.  By night, she’s Finger…  Zinc Finger
• Beverly Chilton – She does Cancer research focusing on hormone regulation in the female reproductive system, and is a life long science fan.
• Frank Sleutels lab – Studying gene regulation and how it’s influenced by packaged chromatin in the nucleus. They find science as addictive as M&M’s!
• Dana Carroll-  a thought leader for using zinc finger nucleases in genome editing..and one of the most gracious and welcoming people I’ve ever met.
• Sarah Wyatt- Midwestern scientist who has worked with NASA studying gravitational biology

We have been using biowords for weeks now to describe everything; biocool, bioblog, biotweeple, biofacebooking, biosocial, biobling…

The word for today is “Biocontest”.

The contest is something we planned when we first posted our Wherebiobegins twitter account.  We knew that if there were great prizes like a Targeted Knockout, a CompoZr Integration kit, or an Apple® iPad,  we would see some creative biosparks flying across the web.

Here’s how it will work:

• Think back, and determine the story of what sparks biology for you.  Nature? experimentation?
• Tell your PI you need time to create an entry that will win a CompoZr ZFN
• Tell the story either through an essay, a video, or an image .
• Go to WhereBioBegins.com/contest and upload it.
• Tell your friends to vote for your entry! “Category” prizes will be awarded based on popular votes.
• Check back frequently to see if you are winning!
• Know your legalese

If you have problems with your submission, please email yfgsuggestions@sial.com.

Good Luck!  We look forward to seeing your entries!