Q & A With Dylan Burnette: Muscle Cells, Cell Movement, and Microscopy

Courtesy of Dr. Dylan Burnette. “We scientists know very little of what can be known—I find that invigorating,” says Dylan Burnette, Ph.D., an associate professor of cell and developmental biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. “Most people find it exhausting, but I’m comfortable with not knowing all of biology’s secrets.” In an interview, Dr. Burnette shared his lab’s work on muscle cells, the knowledge he hopes readers take away from his research, and some advice to future scientists about being comfortable being wrong. Q: How did you first become interested in science? A: Unlike with other subjects (it took me a long time to learn how to read), I excelled at science. In third-grade science class, I knew every answer on the tests. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I did well because I found it interesting. I decided I wanted to become a medical doctor that year. Back then, doctors were the only type of person who I thought did any type of science. Q: What was your path to becoming a researcher? A: After high school, I enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens for an undergraduate degree in biology. There, I worked in the lab of Jacek Gaertig, Ph.D., studying the single-celled organism Tetrahymena thermophila, which uses cilia to move through its environment. This work made me excited to learn more about microtubules, which are found at the center of cilia and are part of the cytoskeleton th...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist Cellular Imaging Cellular Processes Profiles Source Type: blogs