Biochemist

We are excited to present to you our next „rOLe model“: Jingjing Xu,
Biochemist and PhD student at the Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences (IBU) at Oldenburg University.

She discovered how migratory birds may be using the protein cryptochrome4 to sense the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation.
Her research has been published as a cover story in the journal Nature, and is explained in this Youtube video: https://bit.ly/38hgWPo

First published on instagram (@equality_uol) on April 22, 2022.

On the first page, you can see the text „Biochemist Jingjing Xu, phD student“. There is a picture of her in the lab. She is wearing a white lab coat, is a Person of Color and wears her black hair in a ponytail. She is smiling directy into the camera. She is standing in front of a shelf with Erlenmeyer flasks filled with fluid.
On the left is a small part oft he former picture taken in the lab with some flasks. On the rest of this slide is this text, written in black in a white background: Biochemist; PhD student at the Institute for Biology and Environmental Science (IBU), University of Oldenburg. „My research field is biochemistry. I work on a magnetically sensitive protein Cryptochrome 4 (Cry4), which could equip migratory birds with a quantum magnetic compass.“
On this side is mostly black writing on a white background. There are two questions and answers: Question 1: What made you want to go to science? Answer: „Born in a non-academic family, I have been very self-motivated to get well-educated and gain more knowledge since I was a kid. Science challenges me intellectually. To search for answers or make new discoveries is fascinating. As a human being who lives just for some decades on this planet, I feel proud of myself if I could can look a bit deeper into natural mysteries.“ Question 2: Did you meet any barriers during your career as a scientific researcher? Answer: „Yes. As an international researcher, I have to apply for Visa to attend conferences abroad, which is time-consuming. Also, racism on Chinese people happens sometimes. And as a parent, limited time when daycare is open (8am-3pm) can be a barrier, too.“
A picture of Jingjing Xu working in the lab. She wears dark blue gloves and a lab coat and is smiling again and working on some specimen. She explains what she does, which is written in a green box in white text at the bottom of this slide: „I purifiy the proteins which were produced by the bacteria. We use many chemical reagents to purify the protein of interest.“ At the top oft he slide, there is an interview question in black writing on white background again: Question: Your advice to those who want to get into science: Answer: „If you want to do science, do it with perseverance. The outcome is very rewarding in the end.“
On this silde, on the left you can see a small part oft he picture from the silde before. Next to it, there is again black writing on a white background: Question: What is the achievement you are most proud of? Answer: „I am proud that I am a female scientist with a daughter and have found out how migratory birds may use cryptochrome4 protein to sense the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation. Specifically, I have developed an efficient system for bird cryptochrome4 protein expression and purification platform from scratch in our working group. Using this platform, we produced large amount of pure photoactive Cry4 protein and measure magnetic field effects on the protein for the first time in the world. Thus, we experimentally demonstrated that CRY4 from European robins is magnetically sensitive and could be the long-sought-after magnetic sensor molecule in night-migratory songbirds. This work has been published as a cover story of Nature Journal. See the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SPD2r0xV8k“ Below this text is a smartphone where you can see a screenshot of the mentioned Youtube-video. In the middle is a flying European robin and in the top right corner ist he logo from „nature“, the word „nature“ written in white on a black circle that is framed with a white line. Above the smartphone is a green box with white text that says: ‚On Youtube: „How quantum mechanics help birds find their way“‘
Here you can see Jingjing Xu’s University Education. Again, black text on a white background. University Education: China: 2008-2012: Bachelor degree at Shandong Sport University: Major in Kinesiology China: 2012-2015: Master degree at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Major in Biological Engineering China: 2015-2016: PhD student at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: Major in Biomedical Engineering China: 2016: Training in biochemistry in the lab of Prof. Dr. Can Xie School of Life Sciences Peking University, Peking University Germany: 2017-2018: Visiting scholar at AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation, Department of Biology, University of Oldenburg Germany: 2018-Present: PhD student at AG Neurosensorik/Animal Navigation, Department of Biology, University of Oldenburg
On this slide, at the top in the middle is a white box with black text in it, containing the last question. Question: „Finally: What is your agenda fort he coming months?“ Answer: „1) meeting collaborators in Oxford 2) submit my PhD thesis 3) start writing a grant application 4) supervise one bachelor student 5) setup a new experiment system in the lab“ Below the white box is a picture of Jingjing Xu in a white dress. She is kneeing on the grass and smiles at a little girl next to her. This girl is also wearing a white dress and a basket with flowers. Next tot he picture is another white box with black text inside it. It says: „That’s me and my little daughter“
On the last slide, you can see another picture of Jingjing Xu working in the lab. She is holding a flasks in her hands and seems to be shaking it while she is looking at this flask. In an white box with black texts, she explains what she is working on here: „I am checking the growth of bacteria. In my research, I used bacteria cells as protein production factories. The better cells grow the more protein they produce.“ At the right bottom of the slide is a green box with white writing that says „Thank you, Jingjing Xu!“

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