Following on from our pervious blog post about how Eddie transitioned from working at AFM probe manufacturer NuNano to doing a PhD in the Pyne lab, this blog post looks at the experience of Billy Davies in the lab before he made the reverse journey from Sheffield to Bristol.
Billy completed a project masters project in the Pyne lab in 2021 as part of his MSc in Molecular Medicine at the University of Sheffield and now works at NuNano in Bristol as a probe consultant.
Billy Davies is now a Probe Consultant for NuNano
What was your project about and what did it involve?
My project studied how DNA topology affected on the binding of DNA Gyrase and its subunits. Gyrase is an essential enzyme involved in relaxing over-twisted DNA, and detangling DNA loops. We wanted to see if different conformations and sites where DNA strands crossed over affected the binding preference of Gyrase. Using AFM, we imaged a variety of DNA substrates, some overwound DNA and others linked rings, with and without Gyrase and its subunits, so we could see if there were preferences for some conformations over others.
What did you learn from your time in the lab?
My time in the Pyne Lab can be summed up by the fact that I came in having heard the technique in passing and left an AFM believer, taking my first job at NuNano (an AFM probe manufacturer). Everyone in the group is so enthusiastic about AFM it was hard not to end up finding it fascinating, even if its completely different to what I had studied in the past, and I really felt like I grew as a scientist by working with them. Despite the restrictions, the amount of effort they made to get me trained and on the microscope was amazing and I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from leading AFMers such as Alice.
Summarise your experience in the lab
The best thing about being there was how much effort they made to make you feel like a member of the group, and that your project (even if it was one of many) was important for the lab as a whole. Alice was always interested in what we were doing, and listened to any of my ideas or plans even if they weren’t actually very good, and gave us just the right amount of support vs independence.
Billy on the AFM at NuNano