personal statement

hernia

when an internal organ or fatty tissue bulges through a weak spot in surrounding tissue

creats a lump/bulge in the abdomen that can’t be pushed back in

causes of hernia

• heavy lifting

• obesity

• previous surgery or birth causing muscle weakness

hernia treatment

surgery - pushing the tissue back and strengthening the muscle wall

genetic engineering

editing DNA sequences

can be done using CRISPR-Cas9

somatic cells vs germ cells

body cells (skin, brain, blood, muscle) vs gametes (sperm, egg)

somatic gene editing

• edits to genes of non-reproductive cells

• DNA modifications only affect the patient and do not affect sperm/egg cells, so the DNA modifications are not passed onto the patient’s children

germline gene editing

gene modification affects all body cells and present in every cell of an offspring, so a patient’s children will inherit the same characteristics associated with the genetic modications made to the patient

• illegal in the UK

CRISPR-Cas9

gene-editing tool

• Guide RNA is attached to Cas9 enzyme

• Guide RNA recognises and guides the CRISPR-Cas9 complex to the specific DNA sequence to be edited, as the guide RNA is complementary to the target DNA sequence

• Cas-9 enzyme can cut DNA at a targeted spot

• a short DNA sequence called the PAM must also be present next to the target for Cas9 to bind and cut

• the cell will try to repair the DNA sequence, and scientists exploit this for editing the DNA sequence by inserting or deleting

pros of CRISPR-Cas9

• used to treat genetic diseases like sickle cell anaemia

  • improved quality of life for these patients

• used to fight cancer

• efficient gene modifications, sometimes in as little as 24 hours, which helps to speed up research projects and drug discovery processes

• reduced cost and time required for genetic research due to its simplicity, efficiency and ease of use

  • more research → better patient life quality

ethical issues with CRISPR-Cas9

• accidental changes to the wrong gene may occur

• germline gene editing can prevent inherited disease before birth, but it also raises ethical concerns about the potential of ‘designer babies’

  • risk of promoting eugenics and the idea of improving humans by selecting specific traits that are deemed desirable and ultimately altering the human gene pool

• religious and moral objections

  • playing God and interfering with the fact that humans are created in God’s image

how has A-Level chemistry prepared you for pharmacy?

• most important subject for pharmacy

• physical chem:

  • foundations for structure and bonding so will allow me to understand how drugs interact at a molecular level

  • acid-base chemistry, pH calculations, buffers → pharmacy: how pH affects solubility and stability of drugs

• organic chem:

  • mechanisms

  • how different functional groups react

  • stereoisomerism

link to course

how has A-Level maths prepared you for pharmacy?

• helps with drug calculation

  • dose calculations

  • converting units

  • concentrations and dilutions

  • data interpretation

  • statistics

link to course

how has A-Level biology prepared you for pharmacy?

• provides foundations for understanding homeostasis, kidneys, nervous system,

• bacteria, viruses and immunity

• DNA/RNA structures, protein synthesis

• enzyme function, how molecules bind to receptors or enzymes → links to drug action and drug metabolism

how have you participated as fully as possible in school and community life?

school prefect

church worker