About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn
In which my vibration woes deepen
The plot thickens. For those of you who have been dangling in urgent uncertainty, I can report that the vibration problem in our incubator has not gone away. I thought I’d get around it by using smaller, non-round vessels, such … Continue reading
Posted in Silliness, The profession of science
17 Comments
In which I play to win
If running a scientific project is like cooking, then my usual modus operandi in the lab is to prepare a lavish, many-course meal. The meal, in this analogy, is the overarching goal of what I want to understand, and each … Continue reading
Posted in Careers
10 Comments
In which the truth is out there
Crop circles are so last century. In our lab, HeLa cell circles are all the rage: The tissue culture incubator is currently plagued – not with aliens, but a random vibration or resonance that causes our cells to sporadically seed … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific method, Silliness
45 Comments
In which I ponder the power of perspective
Whenever you stick your head above the parapet and express a strong opinion in a high-profile venue, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll receive a large number of emails in response. Most of the follow-up I receive tends to be from … Continue reading
In which I confront a domestic mystery
Some late nights in the lab, that vending machine chocolate bar just can’t fill the snack hole that only a truly grueling experiment can induce. You need something hot, salty and preferably dripping with fat. It’s no surprise, then, that … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Nostalgia, Scientific method, Silliness
52 Comments
In which I set my sights
Even the darkest tunnels tend to have lights at the end of them. In the past fortnight, not only have I submitted my big screen paper – the culmination of four years of work – to a very reputable cell … Continue reading
In which I look ahead
Wishing something will not make it real. But its opposite is a very powerful force: if you decide something is out of your reach, it’s never going to happen. I am not ascribing some New-Age prophecy or supernatural barrier here: … Continue reading
Posted in Careers
21 Comments
In which we rev up again
It’s been a long, cold winter. Science Is Vital has been in hibernation, but now we’re back. After half a year since the government’s Autumn Spending Review, the implications of the science budget’s cash freeze are starting to kick in. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
5 Comments
In which I go native
We scientists are an itinerant bunch, wafting from job to job, city to city and – frequently – country to country, in search of that elusive permanent position. Because of that, our sense of ‘home’ – a place where we … Continue reading
Posted in Nostalgia, The profession of science
44 Comments
In which I lose my temper
Late last year I blogged about the new health and safety rule handed down on high from the research council that funds our institute: all staff must wear safety glasses at all times while in the laboratory – regardless of … Continue reading
Posted in Health and safety gone mad
76 Comments
