I grew up on the Swedish countryside, and nature was always a stone’s throw away. My stepfather asked me – “Why are leaves green, and how is it possible for water to be transported to the top branches?”. This simple yet powerful conversation planted a seed that would grow into a burning desire to understand the fundamental mechanisms of life.

A few years later, I was accepted to the bachelor’s program in molecular biology at Lund University. My first taste of research was after my first year, working on the ecological interaction between Streptomyces and Collembola. It was at this point that I understood that my future was in that of science.

Thanks to my academic achievements, I was nominated to the University of California Education Abroad Programme. At UC Davis, I learned more about the biological sciences and alongside my studies I joined a laboratory to investigate the properties of a protein involved in DNA-repair, using biochemistry and biophysics. That is when I decided to pursue a master’s degree in molecular genetics.