ABSTRACT
First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Carly Guiltinan is first author on ‘ Primed bovine embryonic stem cell lines can be derived at diverse stages of blastocyst development with similar efficiency and molecular characteristics’, published in BiO. Carly conducted the research described in this article while a graduate research fellow in Anna Denicol's lab at Meyer Hall, UC Davis, CA, USA. She is now a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Ali Shariati at UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, investigating cell fate specification during embryonic development and the potential to recapitulate these processes with pluripotent stem cells.
Carly Guiltinan
Describe your scientific journey and your current research focus
I started a major in Animal Sciences at the University of Maryland with an open mind, but not much clarity as to where it might lead me. As a result, I tried to expose myself to as much as possible, from taking a summer internship rearing endangered whooping crane chicks to working as a ‘midwife’ for sows and cows at the state fair birthing center. My introduction to research was in my second year, when I started as an undergraduate research assistant in a lab that studied stem cell programming in neonatal piglets. This was where I fell in love with stem cells, and realized my desire to pursue research in stem cell biology. I soon started in a second lab banking spermatogonial stem cells and working to establish embryonic stem cells from domestic cats. After taking a gap year and completing research-based internships at Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, I began a PhD in Animal Biology/Reproductive Biology at UC Davis under Pablo Ross and then Anna Denicol. The broad goal of my PhD work was explore the potential to generate oocytes from bovine embryonic stem cells. This entailed delving into the pluripotent state and differentiation capacity of bovine embryonic stem cells (including the work presented here) and tracing germ cell development in the bovine embryo and fetal ovary. After finishing up my PhD in summer of 2024, I started a Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Santa Cruz in Ali Shariati's lab. Here, I am using epigenome editing tools to build programmable stem-cell based embryo models to study cell fate decisions during human embryogenesis.
Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?
I give credit to my parents: my mother instilled in me a love of animals and my father a curious mind. Pursuing a career in science has allowed me to combine the two.
How would you explain the main finding of your paper?
We demonstrated that bovine embryonic stem cells (bESCs) can be readily derived from early blastocyst-stage embryos, and that these cells have similar features to ESCs established from full blastocysts when maintained in the same conditions.
What are the potential implications of this finding for your field of research?
Our finding that bESCs with similar characteristics can be established from blastocysts at diverse stages of development widens the pools of embryos available for bESC derivation approaches. We anticipate that this would also be the case for other species with similar embryology that have limited availability of reproductive materials, such as endangered ungulates.
Two brightfield microscope images taken during the derivation of the first bESC line that we established from an early blastocyst. The left image shows the formation of an outgrowth at day 2, and the right shows the emergence of colonies at day 14. These images remind me of the moon in the night sky, particularly the one with ESC colonies in place of craters.
Two brightfield microscope images taken during the derivation of the first bESC line that we established from an early blastocyst. The left image shows the formation of an outgrowth at day 2, and the right shows the emergence of colonies at day 14. These images remind me of the moon in the night sky, particularly the one with ESC colonies in place of craters.
Which part of this research project was the most rewarding?
The most rewarding aspect of this project was deriving the cell lines with my fellow lab mate and co-author, Juliana Candelaria. This was my first time producing bovine embryos in the lab, and working through each step of the derivation process made me amazed by the capacities of the early embryo. I will never forget the excitement I felt when the first line had colonies emerge!
working through each step of the derivation process made me amazed by the capacities of the early embryo
What do you enjoy most about being an early-career researcher?
I enjoy the ability to make learning a priority, even without being a student.
What piece of advice would you give to the next generation of researchers?
Always keep following your interests and remember to enjoy the journey rather than focusing only on the endpoints.
I am now working to build programmable stem cell-based models of human embryogenesis with epigenome editing tools.
What's next for you?
Since graduating from UC Davis (where I completed the work presented in this manuscript) with a PhD in Animal Biology/Reproductive Biology, I have started a postdoc at UC Santa Cruz in the Department of Biomolecular Engineering. I am now working to build programmable stem cell-based models of human embryogenesis with epigenome editing tools.
Carly Guiltinan's contact details: Biomedical Sciences Building, Red Hill Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, USA 95064.
E-mail: [email protected]
