Question: Why did you decide to study this specific topic about molecules in our cells? I think it's really interesting, and what apparatus do you use to find out about cancerous molecules in our cells?

Lizzard O'Day answered on 20 Jun 2011:

Thank you! Great question. I’m a fan of pictures- I think if you can see something you can figure out how it works. That’s why I want to figure out what molecules in cancer cells look like as compared to healthy cells and then maybe just maybe we can figure out what’s going on or going wrong in a cancer cell.

I use a fancy technique called NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy to do this but basically it’s simply getting way up close and personal with a particular molecule in a cell and following what it does, what it looks like and see if we can use these snapshots to figure out how we can possible manipulate its function. It’s just like looking at a bunch of pictures and then trying to piece together what could be going on in a scene. It’s really fun! Thanks for the great question!