In our new series, The Peer Review, Jackson James Wood speaks to young scientists. First up, Sophia Frentz.
Sophia is a 22-year-old geneticist looking inside our cells to find answers about how to treat currently incurable diseases. Not wanting to be a doctor – with all the icky uncontrollable fluids which come along with said profession – she’s doing her PhD in clinical genetics at the University of Melbourne.
Her passion for science came from a young age with her curiosity being stoked by her parents. Sophia’s mum has a drawing five-year-old Sophia did saying she wanted to be a scientist like Charles Darwin. Fast-forward to her final year at highschool, and Sophia had her heart set on a doing a degree in physics, that was until she participated in the Biology Olympiad.
Mitochondria are the powerhouse of every cell in your body – they make energy. No energy and you’ve got a problem. While looking at mitochondrial disorders in general, Sophia is concentrating on Leigh’s Syndrome an early onset disease which usually occurs at about six months old and is generally fatal.
Sophia unabashedly says curing all mitochondrial diseases is her goal. Out of every 10,000 births in New Zealand one is affected by a mitochondrial disease. There are no treatments, let alone cures. Sophia wants to find a solution to help those people live healthy lives but is realistic that science is often a process of narrowing things down.
When she’s not in the lab, Sophia is the secretary for Women in Science and Engineering where she sees value in promoting and supporting women through through their science degrees.
Another part of science for Sophia has been communicating what is happening. Lately she has been musing about the role patent law is going to play in genetics. An article she wrote about the “tangled helix” of gene patenting recently appeared in the Australian Young Skeptic’s magazine.
For more on how Sophia’s search for answers, what got her into genetics, and general science chit chat listen to The Peer Review. Oh and follow Sophia on Twitter!
This content is brought to you with funding support from New Zealand On Air.
