About me
Having recently graduated from York with an integrated masters degree in nanoscience (natural sciences), it is perhaps unusual that I wanted to switch disciplines to pursue mechanistic biology. Although I am still enamoured by many facets of physics and chemistry, I found myself wanting to follow my passion for biology, especially since having previously done biophysics/biochemical internships here at York. In particular, this project interested me due to its involvement with yeast; an enticing area owing to its flexibility and speed. I was also drawn to the option to work with new and experimental types of microscopy, and the ability to implement new software to quantitatively characterise the mechanism of a killer toxin akin to those in cholera and anthrax.
My Project
Toxins such as those in anthrax and tetanus are examples of A/B toxins; named due to their active and binding components. One such toxin is known to be present in yeast: the killer toxin K28, named after the wine strain in which it was initially discovered. Recently, a killer toxin defense factor was found that is hypothesised to help sequester K28 to the vacuole for degradation. However, the exact mechanism for this is yet unknown and it is this that we hope to elucidate, through the help of slimfield microscopy; a super-resolution imaging technique that enables the use of single-molecule tracking. My current hope is that if we are able to able to uncover the exact workings of this mechanism, we can potentially apply it to other A/B toxins to better understand the diseases that still cause millions of deaths each year.