At the time I finished high school, I was determined to study biology, deeply convinced to eventually be a researcher.

I immediately loved working with flies. They fascinated me, and followed me around in my dreams.

I was always trying to look modest and natural. I don't like women who come into the lab and you see immediately that it took them two hours to dress in the morning.

It is very important for me to be taken seriously for my science and not for my looks or other personal accomplishments.

If woman wants to have kids and work a little less she has a big disadvantage compared to a male colleague who has a stay-at-home wife packing his suitcases.

The pressure on kids is high to get good grades. In my time, no one cared about it. My father looked at them but he didn't really make much fuss about them.

I was raised with this idea of hard work and keeping doors open. To be able to choose what you want to do in the future. That was what we tried to tell our children, too.