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The story behind this year's winning Capture your Research photo

By AuthorAID Team | Dec. 19, 2019

This year’s winner of the AuthorAID Capture your Research competition is Olajumoke Olufemi of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She is a pharmaceutical microbiologist who is passionate about curbing antibiotic resistance and was one of the participants on this year’s AuthorAID Research Writing in the Sciences MOOC.

She explains the story behind her photo:

“This is me contributing to the fight against antimicrobial resistance, detecting the transfer of resistance genes along the food chain and establishing that Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteria can be acquired from the community.

“This picture was taken in the molecular laboratory at the Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Antimicrobial resistance is a global health issue that must be addressed on all fronts. In this picture, I was on the verge of running Gel electrophoresis (the electrophoresis tanks are those 'boxes' in front of me), with a micropipette in hand, for the detection of Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes in Enterobacteria isolated from raw beef samples.

“Gel electrophoresis is a method used to separate DNA or other protein components based on their molecular sizes. This separation is a function of electrical charge that passes through the agarose gel, with smaller DNA molecules traveling a greater distance through the gel while DNA with larger molecular weight does not travel long distances down the gel. The DNA travel downwards towards the positive pole along the gel because they are negatively charged.

“The world is in dire need of a solution to the menace called antimicrobial resistance and every one has a role to play!”

Congratulations on this great photo and story Olajumoke!

AuthorAID hopes to share more Capture your Research stories over the coming months.

 

Sabita Gurung

 

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