Question: What was your first experiment? How has this helped you decide what other experiments you need to consider?

Lynne Thomas answered on 17 Jun 2014:

This is a tricky question as I’ve performed lots of experiments which aren’t necessarily connected to each other. But my first real experiment as a scientist was at somewhere called the ISIS neutron facility in Oxfordshire. Instead of firing X-rays at a crystal I fired neutrons (which are part of the nucleus of an atom) at them and in a similar way I could work out what the molecules inside the crystal looked like in three dimensions. I was actually most interested in seeing how weaker bonds connect the molecules together into the solid – these are things called hydrogen bonds and there are everywhere in the world and responsible for the double helix of DNA, the connection of water molecules in ice, and even the strength of wood! They play a big role in how the proteins in your body fold up into a particular shape and this determines how they work!

So this really kicked off my interests in looking at these hydrogen bonds in more detail and the questions I could answer are sort of limitless! But I’ve been trying to see if I can use them to make medicines more soluble in you blood, to make things that change colour when you heat and cool them, to make solids (crystals) which can hold gas molecules within them, to help explain why wood is so strong and what happens when you stretch it and there are many many more questions!

Really the most fascinating thing about my research is being able to see the atoms and molecules and their shape right in front of my eyes. I use the only method there is in science to actually see atoms and molecules and it is very exciting!