I have been crocheting another cell since my latest visit to MedImmune at the end of last week, made of wire and beads this time. I spent time with three more fascinating scientists who showed me some truly gorgeous images of cells, their constituent parts and antibodies attaching to them and entering them!!!
Working with Caz, (Caroline Colley), I saw some beautiful images that came from the very wonderful, new, fancy microscope OPERA. Using fluorophores, (which are fluorescent chemical compounds that re-emit different coloured light when lasers are shone on them), to
mark different parts of cells and antibodies or antigens etc she and her team had been able to capture incredibly beautiful, aesthetically scrumptious images which more importantly for the scientists are amazingly useful in research towards producing treatments for a whole host of
illnesses and diseases. Caz was brilliant at explaining what she was working on, what the images showed and how the science behind it was helping medical science develop very specific treatments. She was also very funny and we had a great laugh using opera related puns at all opportunities in our
conversations. (If you read this Caz, I hope you got rid of the phantom!). I was greatly inspired by the fact that some of the images of cells looked so very similar to images of galaxies or solar systems and have a great plan to crochet a whole host of these cells and have them suspended like an astronomical galaxy or constellation!!
I was fascinated by the work that Lee Brown does in Histology and Pathology too. I spent a very interesting time being shown round the lab and being shown how they work. It is very different to the other work I have seen at MedImmune as it is about tissue as opposed to individual cells. I loved the wax blocks they used to preserve the tiny tissue samples and the "bacon slicer" that was then used to take unbelievably thin slivers of tissue and wax off the blocks to make the slides. I think I will definitely be making some work in wax blocks too! Again I was able to spend some time looking at microscope images of different types of tissue/cells from different organs and healthy or cancerous cells. They were fascinating in their different structure even though they were less aesthetically coloured.
I spent the afternoon with Gareth Davies, he very kindly spent ages with me trawling through microscope images of cells looking for good images of macrophages, mitosis, stroma/actin and any number of other awe inspiring minute beauties. I am waiting for some of these images to be sent to me so I can use them for inspiration, (hint, hint, Gareth), I will keep you updated as I make more work.
Yet again a fantastic day in Lab Land with fascinating people and their awesomely inspiring work - I so love medical science!
I also met Rob Howes who spent some time showing me around another lab and different equipment as well as explaining what it is they do. Plus, I got to spend the afternoon with the lovely Lesley Jenkins in that same lab shadowing her while she did an experiment. We had a great chat, she was really enthusiastic when I told her I had an idea to get any staff who knit (Lesley is one of those) involved in making a piece of work with me. I haven't come up with the idea of exactly what we are going to make but I just love the idea of involving the staff, especially as I hear from Lesley there is already quite a strong knitting contingent there!
My knitted wire cells are coming on; I am hoping to create a galaxy of them, so there are still plenty more to make but they are looking good so far and I feel confident they will look good suspended.
