Profile
Ravinder Kanda
My CV
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Education:
School: Wolverhampton Girls High School, University: QMUL, Imperial College
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Qualifications:
BSc – Genetics, PhD – Human Genomic Diversity
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Work History:
Universities (Birmingham, Imperial, Oxford), Industry (Anglia DNA), Teaching in various schools
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Current Job:
Research Scientist
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Read more
Only 2% of our DNA is actually genes – that is, the bits of DNA that describe your eye colour or your hair colour and other such characteristics that are inherited from your parents. The rest of the DNA, we’re still not sure what this actually does, or why its there. Around 8% of our DNA comes from viruses – that’s rather a lot! Humans are not unique in this way – virus DNA is found in the DNA of all mammals. Why is it there, and how did it get there?
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My Typical Day:
Looking at the DNA of a lot of humans
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Read more
Using computers to look for patterns in the DNA. This gives us some idea why so much of our DNA comes from viruses.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d use it to bring science to schools and get you to look at your own DNA!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Definitely Not Sheldon!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Of course!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Too many to list!
What's your favourite food?
Chillies!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I’d wish for a supercomputer so my work would go faster. A remote control that could pause the world so I’d have more time to do everything. And Storm’s powers out of X-Men… that would be cool!
Tell us a joke.
What’s brown and sticky? A stick!
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