Beverly Chilton, PhD: Molecular biologist, and lifelong science fan
Dr. Beverly Chilton is a passionate scientist who has 25 years of experience under her belt at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She signed on for 3-5 years… but time flies when you are studying hormone regulation in the female reproductive system.
Taking time out from molecular biology to attend a fund raiser.
We met after her second day in the Targeted Genome Editing Workshop when she learned the intricacies of working with Zinc Finger Nucleases to create knockouts, gene knockins, and integration of a selected gene of interest into a cell line.
Dr. Chilton is a two-time graduate of Biouniversity workshops. Her first workshop focused on using RNAi technology, with the goal of knocking down difficult genes in her rabbit model. During the RNAi workshop she learned that Sigma was unveiling a technology for gene knockout, knockins and/or Integration into a cell line. Dr. Chilton nearly tackled the speaker to get more information! She intends to apply knockouts and knockdown to human cell lines.
What did the RNAi workshop do for you?
The workshop showed me the “La Brea Tar Pits” (or “sticky wickets” if you’re British), to look out for in using the technologies. You get to work with the people who developed the technology, and really learn the in’s and out’s. To me it’s an invaluable service.
What made you want to come back for a second workshop?
What the Sigma team tries to achieve is very unusual. The spirit in this [Workshop] room is one of understanding and cooperation. It’s like you are saying “Yes, we make products, and we want them to work in your lab.” You want to sell me one good kit that will work and WILL make my science go forward.
To me this feels as genuine as it can possibly feel. Ultimately the partnership and personal commitment make the difference in using these new technologies.
Do you plan to use ZFN Knockouts and RNAi together?
Yes. I plan to eventually use them together. I want to remove our transcription factor (RUSH, a protein highly conserved between rabbit and human, with the human protein named HLTF) then knockdown its interactors Egr-1 and c-Rel using shRNA
Your shRNA didn’t work after your first workshop. What happened?
I was trying to apply human tools to a rabbit model, and it’s quite frustrating. The rabbit model does a wonderful job of expressing my genes, but the tools that are available aren’t always applicable to the model.
How about the ZFN’s? How are they working?
I’m looking forward to using ZFNs in a human model. ZFNs provide much greater versatility and have allowed researchers to knockout 3 genes in the same cell line, you just can’t do that with knockdown technologies like siRNA and shRNA. We are working on the RUSH protein and we’ve identified the Jak2/RUSH pathway for prolactin signal transduction in rabbit uterus. The work has been very well received by the scientific community. Now we plan to do more in a human model!
Where did your bio begin?
It started when I was very young. When I was a child I wanted a microscope for my 9th or 10th birthday. Then I asked my dad if he couldn’t cut himself shaving so I could have the blood to look at under my microscope…he wasn’t pleased with that!
The real trick for me was finding out what kind of biology I wanted to do. I have 3 degrees in Zoology. Ultimately I discovered that Molecular Biology is very intellectually satisfying.
I have loved science since the beginning, and I love it more today than I did the day I started!
Learn more about Sigma Life Sciences workshops, and find a schedule of upcoming events please visit sigma.com/workshops.
