Dr. Karen O'Hanlon Cohrt
Karen holds a 1st class Honours Bachelor Degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Biotechnology, both from Maynooth University in Ireland. She spent almost 10 years working as a researcher in both academic and industrial roles in Ireland and Denmark. Throughout her research career, Karen has worked with yeast, filamentous fungi, bacteria, plants, moth larvae and mammalian cells. She has tried her hand at everything from Sanger sequencing to genetically modifying disease-causing fungi. She loves science and is passionate about communicating science to others for educational purposes. Her passion for knowledge-sharing prompted her to join Bitesize Bio as a freelance writer (2014), a role which eventually progressed to Editorial Manager (until December 2017). In her (albeit limited) spare time, Karen loves to knit and enjoys life with her husband and son in Denmark. You can follow Karen on Twitter @KarenOHCohrt or at https://www.kcwritingforscience.com/
Articles by Dr. Karen O'Hanlon Cohrt:
Alphabet Soup for Bacteria!
In its simplest form, a bacterial growth medium is designed to support the growth of bacteria. Depending on which bacteria you want to culture, you may have a range of different media to choose from, each containing a rather unique blend of sometimes surprising (and odd!) components! In this article, I will take you through…
Crash Course in Microbial Identification
Welcome to this crash course in microbial identification methods! Here, you will get an overview of the traditional and modern methods available for the identification of bacteria, yeast or filamentous fungi to the species level. Species level identification allows you to discriminate confidently between two species from the same genus, something that is often essential in the treatment of infectious…
More About Microbes: The Good, the Bad and the Downright Ugly!
In a previous article, we took a quick journey through the wonderful world of microbes. Let’s take a step back now and have a closer look at the benefits of microbes. We will also look at reasons to avoid many of them. For example, the ‘plague’ which is caused by a particularly nasty bacteria called…
Introducing You to the Wonderful World of Microbes!
Welcome to the microbe series where we have a very exciting line-up planned over the coming months. Here we will talk about everything microbial, including the uses of microbes in industry and medicine, emerging pathogens, diagnostics, and much, much more! Let’s kick off this series with an introduction into these wonderful, yet sometimes nasty, organisms…
Mysterious Plant miRNAs: What About Them?
Welcome to the last article in this series! Last, but by no means least, we will look at the importance of plant miRNAs and how they differ from their animal counterparts. When/How Were Plant miRNAs Discovered? Plant miRNAs were first described in 2002, a decade after the seminal miRNA study in the nematode C. elegans…