Sustainability in the biomedical laboratory

Kandikanti works as a doctoral researcher at the University of Tampere, researching treatment options for rapidly progressing glioblastoma brain cancer using in vitro modeling. She wishes her field to have more awareness about sustainability issues. Her current project deals with many aspects related to sustainability, such as animal use, resource use, and human well-being.

“This project hits many of the sustainability targets because we want to encourage in vitro disease models so that we use minimal resources, reduce dependence on animal research, find cost-effective solutions and simplify the experiment conditions for clear understanding of the results", Kandikanti says.

"Coming to environmental consciousness, animal research can be unsustainable due to resource consumption, waste generation, and ethical concerns. On the other hand, methods such as in vitro models and computer simulations offer more sustainable options for scientific progress", Kandikanti adds.

I hope that projects like mine help improve the preclinical drug screening methods someday. There is of course a long way to go but, collectively, this could be a step in the direction towards personalized treatments. Imagine someday if you can have the best treatment for you chosen based on lab tests instead of going through trial and error by yourself, that would indeed be the dream!

Sustainability on many levels of research

Kandikanti sees that many of the sustainability questions in the context of biomedical laboratories and research come back to careful planning and executing of tests and analyses, both on individual and institutional level. For example, how individual researchers manage their work, how plans for experiments are designed and approved, or what kind of materials and equipment organizations allow to order or not.

Working with delicate and expensive cell samples requires very specific conditions to get accurate results, so sustainability of experiments must be thought well beforehand.

“In cell culture work, it's quite important to keep your environment aseptic, sterile, and free, in some cases even from molecules like RNAs, to maintain sample quality. It needs a sensitive balance: how can we limit the number of resources that we utilize, like the disposables, and how are we able to also plan the experiments in a proper way? Careful preparation and proper execution are important because we’re playing with expensive materials which are usually coming from limited resources and can have a lot of environmental impact", Kandikanti explains.

From pharmacy to preclinical research

Interest in molecular medicine and her current field of research comes from previous experiences in pharmacy.

When I practiced pharmacy and I noticed that there are so many patients that respond differently to medications even though they have the same physical parameters and the same disorder.

I was really curious about the biochemical aspects, genetic variations and physiological conditions that affect the drug response at a cellular level.”

For Kandikanti, a doctoral researcher’s average day can include many things, both in a laboratory and outside of it.

“It’s kind of hard to put it into a simple list, but as a doctoral researcher, I’m learning how to come up with a new project design, to consider what is necessary for it, how to acquire funds and resources, and then execute and manage the project itself", Kandikanti says.

“The actual experimental work includes spending time in the lab: for example, if you’re doing cell culture research, you’re growing cells, collecting biological samples, capturing microscopic images, and then analyzing them further. You also do the data interpretation. What numbers you got in the results, what they mean, to make statistical sense out of it and then to put them into meaningful outputs or visualizations. And then of course publishing this new information, making it known to the scientific world, speaking about it, and gaining expertise on the topic", Kandikanti explains.

“Of course, a huge part is also about managing schedules, meeting with supervisors, the collaborators, teaching, guidance, keeping up the current literature, attending the doctoral school’s courses and other activities like conferences, workshops, networking etc." Kandikanti adds.

Passion for research

Putting your heart into your research is important for Kandikanti and she’s very passionate about her current research.

Personally, I feel quite confident because I'm working with people who have been in the field for a very long time and their knowledge is insanely cool.

It's quite stimulating, and I feel like I have a role here. My research has open questions that I think are very interesting kind of questions to ask when I do an experiment, the answer will either be yes or no, and both are informative results towards the end", Kandikanti says.

Photos: Leevi Rantala and Kandikanti’s home album.
Text: Tekla Heinonen