Research Assistant

Contract type fixed term – 3 years

Full time – 35 hours per week

We are looking for a research assistant to support original research in mammalian meiosis and gametogenesis.

The opportunity:

Our research is trying to find out how the body makes sure that parents pass the right number of chromosomes on to their children. Mistakes in this process are very common in humans and cause miscarriage, infertility, and Down's Syndrome. The aim of this post is to support original research in the field of chromosome pairing and segregation in mammalian meiosis and how this impacts germ cell development, infertility and inherited genetic disease. The postholder will prepare tissue and chromosomes from mice carrying mutations in genes that affect chromosome pairing and segregation and analyse these samples using histology, immunostaining and in situ hybridisation to work out how these mutations affect chromosome pairing and segregation. Some experience in microscopy and imaging in a biomedical research setting would be beneficial for this post.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Desirable to have education in cell biology, genetics, developmental biology, or a related discipline or experience in a biomedical research laboratory using microscopy to analyse chromosomes or mammalian tissues.
• Experience using immunofluorescence microscopy to visualise chromosomes or their associated proteins in mammalian cells (desirable).
• Experience using histology to assess cell and tissue morphology.
• Research experience with transgenic mice (desirable).
• Understanding of meiosis and gametogenesis (desirable).

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