Trainee Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology, Zoe Andrews, took over the States Twitter feed earlier this week, to talk the public through some of the meticulous procedures that go on behind closed doors – complete with photos and videos.

75% of the island’s clinical diagnosis are based on the biomedical science investigations, carried out by a team of 19 registered scientists. They are spread across four different departments; Microbiology, Biochemistry, Haematology & Transfusion and Histology.

Another side of biomedical science is blood donations, which have to be analysed to make sure each patient is safe to become a donor.

People in Guernsey can enquire about becoming a donor by calling 725241 and asking to speak with someone from the pathology department.

Meanwhile, those in the Histology department spend hours dissecting organs or tissue and annotating them.

As part of the process, the organs or tissue are placed into white cassettes and embedded in wax overnight, before being sliced up into minute pieces – about the width of a cell.

Many of the samples taken by doctors are sent to biomedical scientists for testing. 

In recent weeks, staff in Microbiology have been focussing their efforts on finding effective technology and processes for covid-19 testing.

But, the team has still been carrying out other tests, despite the increased demand. 


Twitter users were invited to send in their questions throughout Biomedical Science Day, using the hashtag #GuernseyScientist.