“We all have the power to change the future and science provides each of us with a platform to do just that”
I am Ruoyao Ma, a fourth year PhD student currently studying in Professor Stephen Gordon’s lab in the Veterinary School. Prior to arriving in Ireland, I studied Animal Science in South China Agricultural University and graduated in 2017. I received the UCD-CSC (China Scholarship Council) scholarship which has enabled me to pursue research in Infection Biology in UCD.
My research interest is to define the molecular virulence mechanisms of Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis). For those who do not know, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and M. bovis cause human tuberculosis and bovine tuberculosis, which poses a risk not only to public health, but also to animal health and welfare. Although M. tuberculosis and M. bovis share over 99.9% genome identity, they show distinct host adaptation for humans and animals, respectively. Thus, it is important to understand the molecular basis that determines this differential host tropism.
To address this, I have been working with M. bovis mutants in TbD1 and RD900 region that differ in their structure between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. RNA-seq analysis and phenotypic assays were used to address the function and mechanism of the TbD1 and RD900 region in stress tolerance, giving a new view of strategies used by mycobacteria to live and persist in the macrophage hostile environment.
To understand how mycobacteria survive in the macrophage hostile environment provides us with much needed research into how the world can successfully combat, destroy and/or clinically treat diseases such as these. Confucius said “Learning without thinking is useless. Thinking without learning is dangerous” and my PhD research truly reflects Confucius views.
Science provides each of us with a platform to transform the world we live in. For anyone considering science as a career of choice my advice would be not to hesitate. We all have the power to change the future and science provides each of us with a platform to do just that. When we balance learning, thinking and how our research is applied to real world problems, we are left with the greatest legacy that science has to offer to the world…which is real life solutions.