Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
While Alex Quillin, PhD ’25, was a graduate student in the lab of Jen Heemstra, the Charles Allen Thomas Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences, she led a team of chemists studying how cells create messages using the language of RNA — messages in constant need of editing to help avoid cancer and other diseases. The editing process had been largely invisible at the cellular level — until one day it wasn’t. In this video, both Quillin and Heemstra describe what it was like to look through the microscope and realized what they had potentially discovered. @washuartsci @washumedicine @WashUAlumni
#chemistry #research #cancer #science #college #graduatestudies #discovery
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About WashU
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a nationally ranked, global leader in teaching, research and patient care. With a vibrant community of over 21,300 students and faculty from all 50 states and 100+ countries, WashU offers world-class programs across eight distinct schools, all anchored in purpose-driven scholarship and service to society. Discover how WashU brings us closer to the knowledge that changes lives and the stories that inspire us to change the world.
Learn more by visiting
→ Website – washU.edu
→ WashU News Source -- source.washu.edu
→ IG -- instagram.com/washu/?hl=en
→ Facebook -- facebook.com/WashU
While Alex Quillin, PhD ’25, was a graduate student in the lab of Jen Heemstra, the Charles Allen Thomas Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences, she led a team of chemists studying how cells create messages using the language of RNA — messages in constant need of editing to help avoid cancer and other diseases. The editing process had been largely invisible at the cellular level — until one day it wasn’t. In this video, both Quillin and Heemstra describe what it was like to look through the microscope and realized what they had potentially discovered. @washuartsci @washumedicine @WashUAlumni
#chemistry #research #cancer #science #college #graduatestudies #discovery
→Subscribe: bit.ly/WashUSubscribe
About WashU
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a nationally ranked, global leader in teaching, research and patient care. With a vibrant community of over 21,300 students and faculty from all 50 states and 100+ countries, WashU offers world-class programs across eight distinct schools, all anchored in purpose-driven scholarship and service to society. Discover how WashU brings us closer to the knowledge that changes lives and the stories that inspire us to change the world.
Learn more by visiting
→ Website – washU.edu
→ WashU News Source -- source.washu.edu
→ IG -- instagram.com/washu/?hl=en
→ Facebook -- facebook.com/WashU
