Profile
Daniel Biggs
Ready to answer your questions....
My CV
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Education:
The Brakenhale School for GCSEs.
Bracknell and Wokingham College for A Levels
University of Portsmouth for my degree.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs – 3 Bs, 5 Cs and a D
A Levels – Biology, Chemistry and Maths, AS in Psychology
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Work History:
Cinema, Bar, Bingo Club, Sign company, office. LABORATORY (not in order)
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Employer:
University of Oxford
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About Me:
I am a husband and a father. I enjoy spending time at home with my family, and playing video games.
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I live with my wife, son and new daughter, we recently bought a new home which is great for the family and our son’s primary school. My wife calls me ‘a geek’ and I have to admit I am. Spiderman is my favourite superhero.
I like to watch films, the current Marvel and DC universes are great. I like to read and play video games, we have a Switch, a PS3 and a PS4.
Favourite foods are Pizza, KFC. I enjoy cooking for my family, I am not great but I do cook a great Sunday Roast.
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My pronouns are:
he / him
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My Work:
Lab Manger and technical specialist in the Genome Engineering Core @ Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics
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I am lucky enough to work in a building that researches human genetics, and in this building there are many great scientists investigating many different aspects of human diseases.
A lot of my work involves looking after very special cells. These are called Embryonic Stem Cells and at one time you were a bundle of these magical cells.
You can think of them as young children, everyday I have to feed them, make sure they have room to grow, and care for them so they do not get sick. I have to make sure that they are healthy, as they may go on to become a live mouse model. When we want to generate the mutant, we do my favourite part which is microinjecting ES cells into a embryo.
Other jobs involve cleaning and making sure there is enough equipment in the lab for everyone to use and we do not run out.
I have to keep a online Lab Book of my results, this needs to be kept up to date and clearly written. I have to report all results to my group leader. There are lots of records to keep in our area and being organised definitely helps.
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My Typical Day:
Get some breakfast before the kids wake up, when they are awake spend some time with them before coming to the lab. Arrive at the lab around 8am and spend the first hour planning my day and catching up on any admin that I missed from the day before. Quick lunch around midday and work hard in the afternoon to finish on time about 4pm. Jump on the motorbike and get home safe to my waiting family, and then enjoy time with the kids before bedtime and catch up on favourite TV with my beautiful wife.
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A typical day involves an early start. I get up usually a bit before 6am and prepare my lunch for the day and have breakfast and sort the cat out. Once the children are happy and we have enjoyed some time together I have to get dressed and climb on my motorbike and head to work.
At work I review what happened yesterday and then plan he day ahead. I have to check what results we need to process and which experiments to set up. I mentioned those embryonic stem cells, and these guys need looking after so I get out the media to prewarm it.
The team I am in will have a cup of tea around 10 in the morning, and its great to catch up with everyone and talk about TV and films and discuss some work.
At 4pm its time to start packing away samples and head home to see my family
The evenings involve all the joys of a happy children! We play lots and all help each other to get dinner ready and tidy up afterwards. Then we have a few more games and then start to get the children ready for bedtime. Then shortly after my wife and I will tidy the house, and spend sometime together watching our favouring shows
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would love to create an activity based on the technology I use at work