Menu

marvel comic and petri dish

My introduction to the world of science fiction was through US comics. This is a Marvel Fantastic Four comic from 1977. In this issue Reed Richards, the scientist of the Fantastic Four, is possessed by Molecule Man!

The object in the petri dish is purified Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that encodes the molecules that are weaved into life. The thread-like nature of the molecule is striking in its resemblance to raw cotton. In the human body DNA is wound tightly into a compact ball in the nucleus of each cell. If we unravelled the DNA in each cell of the human body and placed all these molecules end-to-end the DNA thread would stretch from the Earth to the Sun and back over 60 times.

cuvettes, loops and agar

In order to modify the DNA code in a bacterium, a process essential to our research, the DNA has to be introduced into the bacterial cell. One way to do this is by placing a very large electrical voltage across the bacteria which generates small holes, or pores, which then allows DNA to enter the bacterial cell. This system is called electroporation. This object shows the receptacles (electroporation cuvettes) into which the bacteria are placed while the electrical charge is placed across them. Notice the metal inserts in the plastic containers. 

The red item is a jelly that is used to grow bacteria in the laboratory, contained within a plastic plate (a Petri plate). A fundamental concept in the study of bacteria is being able to isolate single bacteria. To achieve this, mixtures of bacteria are spread across the surface of the agar plate using the plastic loops; single bacteria which are seeded onto the surface in this way can grow up into millions of bacteria usually overnight and hence appear as a small dot, or ‘colony’ of bacteria on the agar surface.

cuvettes, loops and agar

In order to modify the DNA code in a bacterium, a process essential to our research, the DNA has to be introduced into the bacterial cell. One way to do this is by placing a very large electrical voltage across the bacteria which generates small holes, or pores, which then allows DNA to enter the bacterial cell. This system is called electroporation. This object shows the receptacles (electroporation cuvettes) into which the bacteria are placed while the electrical charge is placed across them. Notice the metal inserts in the plastic containers. 

The red item is a jelly that is used to grow bacteria in the laboratory, contained within a plastic plate (a Petri plate). A fundamental concept in the study of bacteria is being able to isolate single bacteria. To achieve this, mixtures of bacteria are spread across the surface of the agar plate using the plastic loops; single bacteria which are seeded onto the surface in this way can grow up into millions of bacteria usually overnight and hence appear as a small dot, or ‘colony’ of bacteria on the agar surface.

small tubes

The research in my laboratory requires sterile plastic to be used. These tubes are artefacts leftover from previous research in the laboratory.

found in an office

These items encapsulate personal and research journeys: The paper card is a design from the Alhambra, the citadel in the Spanish city of Granada where Beatriz, my wife, is from. The bicycle clip represents my daily bike route from home to work and back. Presenting at international scientific conferences is important for dissemination of research findings; the metal armadillo was given to me at a research meeting in Mexico.

found in an office

These items encapsulate personal and research journeys: The paper card is a design from the Alhambra, the citadel in the Spanish city of Granada where Beatriz, my wife, is from. The bicycle clip represents my daily bike route from home to work and back. Presenting at international scientific conferences is important for dissemination of research findings; the metal armadillo was given to me at a research meeting in Mexico.

photograph, letter and flip book

included by Lorna Donlon

There probably isn’t a family in Ireland that wasn’t affected by TB, the bacteria that Steve studies in his lab. I was recently reminded of the reality of how it affected people’s lives, when a friend of mine showed me her christening photograph. In the photograph the only person to whom the baby being christened is actually related is her elder sister (to the left in the foreground). The infant’s mother was still in hospital having given birth to her, while her father was in the TB hospital in Waterford. The envelope contains a letter from her mother to her father informing him of the birth of another daughter, whom he wouldn’t meet in person until she was over a year old.

The small flip book I fashioned using screenshots of a zoom conversation I had with Steve during the lockdown about the nitty gritty details of his research. It is remarkable the lengths that people went to to communicate with each other during this time and I was really struck with the effort of work that was involved for Steve in explaining such complicated things so successfully across the divide of the internet.

Researcher Profile

stephen gordon

Stephen was born in Derby, England to Irish parents who moved the family back to Mayo in the late 1970s. His roots mean he supports Derby County football club as well as the Mayo GAA football team.

Find Out More

stephen gordon

Stephen was born in Derby, England to Irish parents who moved the family back to Mayo in the late 1970s. His roots mean he supports Derby County football club as well as the Mayo GAA football team.

Find Out More

Useful Links

Find Us

Follow Us