Will we become aware and give a chance to young female scientists?

By Ena Bajrić Alibašić

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Biology is a science. Biologists have been working tirelessly for months researching the infamous COVID-19 virus. Mutations.. Oh yes. Biologists again. Vaccine development, too.

You are probably wondering how COVID-19 virus testing is performed. Samples collected from the nose or throat are sent to laboratories, where biologists use PCR technology to determine the presence of the virus in the tested person's sample, as well as its prevalence.

According to media sources, testing is also set to begin at the General Hospital "Abdulah Nakaš" in cooperation with the ALLEA genetic center.

I wonder who will perform the tests while my fellow biologists, as well as myself, have long been on the unemployment register. Every job interview ends with the same sentence: "But we need medical staff."

When will the public become aware of the fact that medical staff and biologists (scientists, researchers) form a whole that saves your lives.

The healthcare system is exhausted; what will we do if we run out of staff? Colleagues in the public and private sectors have no time to eat, let alone think about showering. Who will step in? Does anyone care, or do we have to wait for a total collapse?

The Employment Service of Sarajevo Canton has announced a call according to which, if necessary, a Program for co-financing of required staff could be created within 48 hours. I, Ena Bajrić Alibašić, am a graduate biologist, biochemical and physiological engineer. Unemployed.

Just like many of my colleagues from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Sarajevo, and I believe elsewhere.

We can help, oh yes, even without experience, I am sure we can be of more help to the exhausted employed colleagues than anyone who has never even heard what DNA and RNA isolation is. We know how to pipette with micropipettes, we know how to use Eppendorf tubes, we know how to use reagents, and we have not just heard about PCR. Although it is a very sensitive area, there are other areas where we can help.

Biochemical and physiological engineers work in biochemical-hematological laboratories analyzing blood and urine. Is that staff endangered? Oh yes.. If they become exhausted, how can we replace them, and if we get a chance, if we have never gained practice in hospital laboratories, which differ from faculty laboratories. This does not mean that we cannot be of great help...

If we emerge victorious from this pandemic, will the public become aware and give young scientists the opportunity to gain experience so that in God forbid similar natural disasters, we can be without fear for the staff, and perhaps our own lives.

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*Ena Bajrić Alibašić, graduate biologist - biochemical and physiological engineer, graduate of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Sarajevo. Originally from Livno, residing in Sarajevo.