Raysa Khan Tareque: The Bangladeshi woman developing next-gen DNA technology

Raysa Khan Tareque is a Bangladeshi scientist who aspires to develop the next generation of DNA technology. As a Bangladeshi woman and a scientist, she has become a role model for the female population daring to chase after their dreams in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

The young scientist is currently residing in the UK, working as a synthetic chemist for Evonetix, a Cambridge-based synthetic biology company focused on developing DNA synthesis technology.

In a casual interview with The Daily Star, the chemist opened up about her experience of working in STEM.

Raysa's family moved to Sweden when she was quite young and she completed her education there. "Chemistry invoked my curiosity from my high-school days," said the scientist. "I had an amazing chemistry teacher, Dr Tammara Elmfors, who inspired me to pursue higher level education on the subject."

She graduated as the top student in her class, earning a Bachelor's Degree in Medical and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Nottingham Trent University in 2014. In 2018, she completed her PhD in Medical Chemistry from the University of Sussex.

The young scientist is currently residing in the UK, working as a synthetic chemist for Evonetix, a Cambridge-based synthetic biology company focused on developing DNA synthesis technology.

"Once we went to visit a six-year-old cousin of ours in Bangladesh, whose mom told him that there's a scientist amongst the two of us," shared Nazmus Sakib Tareque, Country Manager UK, Equality Check, and Raysa's husband. "He assumed that the scientist was me rather than Raysa. But when I cleared his misunderstanding, he couldn't believe that a woman could also be a scientist."

"People usually assume that being a scientist is a man's job," added Raysa. "Even in the UK, there are fewer women in the upper spectrums of STEM."

"It's often easier to accept and acknowledge something when you have a role model to broaden your horizon," shared Raysa. "I have also done a lot of outreach events where I presented myself as a female scientist and encouraged young girls to pursue scientific fields. I wanted to show them that I am a girl scientist and that it is possible to make a place for yourself in this field."

Raysa's team at Evonetix is currently focusing on a new DNA technology that could revolutionise gene synthesis with improved accuracy, speed and scale for scientists working in healthcare, medicine, data storage and many other industries.

"In simple terms, we at Evonetix are developing a DNA printer which would print DNA sequences with high accuracy and speed," stated Raysa. "It would allow scientists to speed up their work by massively cutting down the time needed to prepare DNA sequences for their research."

"Sometimes, it can take months for scientists to prepare long DNA sequences in the lab," said Raysa. "This DNA printer could make that process instant which could revolutionise the medical and health care industries."

Raysa is also quite popular amongst Bangladeshi youth and housewives through her YouTube channel and Facebook Page "Dr Raysa's", where she blends bits of chemistry with the science of cooking.

"I am a Bangladeshi woman who likes making cooking videos and at the same time I also have a career as a scientist," concluded Dr Raysa Khan Tareque, remarking that young Bangladeshi girls should see her success and strive for it themselves.