THEIR eyes met across a microscope... but these two scientists are turning their romance into a chance to help beat cancer.

Dr Amanda McFarlane and Dr Grant McGregor found love working together at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute.

The couple first met when fate led Grant to step in for a colleague at the last minute to show Amanda how to use the new technology, which allows scientists to examine multiple samples of cancer cells very quickly and in huge amounts of detail.

Amanda said: “We’d spoken a few times before at research meetings, but nothing much.

"Then in January last year I needed to find out how to use the new microscope.

"I arranged training with Grant’s colleague Lynn but she was running late that day, so Grant stepped in.

"We had a good chat that day, and over three more sessions of training that week. Grant has a really good sense of humour and he’s a very kind, genuine person.

"The microscope training led to a run that weekend, and a drink the week after that… and that was pretty much it."

Grant, who had already taken a bit of a shine to Amanda, said: "I’d done some digging and when she first tried to book onto the microscope training, I asked Lynn to push it back so that I could be there.

"But, unfortunately, that session didn’t work out.

"So I was delighted when Lynn messaged me the day she was running late to say ‘that girl that you like is coming up to use the microscope’ and asked me to look after her.

"Amanda has a very mischievous and pretty smile, and a lovely laugh. Our first date was a run together.

"I’d promised to take her for a hot chocolate afterwards, but the chocolate café was closed so that turned into breakfast somewhere else, with a stop off to buy her a chocolate stick she could put into warm milk so I could keep my promise - and it all went from there."

Cancer has affected both Grant and Amanda’s lives, after they each lost their grandfathers to the disease at Christmas time.

Amanda, 30, said: “My Papa was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2009.

"He went into hospital for surgery in December, but we lost him two days later after he went into shock.

"He was the first person in our family that I’d lost that I was very close to. It was a really hard time."

Grant, who uses the Fife word for grandpa, said: “I lost my Di about 15 years ago to prostate cancer. It was really difficult to watch his slow decline.

"I knew it was coming, but it was still quite a shock when my cousin told me he’d passed away.

"It’s not something you’d wish on anybody, you just hope that anything we do here can help."

United in their fight against cancer in the lab, the couple will also run side by side at the 2019 London Marathon in April in memory of their grandfathers and to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

The couple is also using their chemistry together to encourage Scots to wear one of the charity’s brightly coloured Unity Bands with pride on World Cancer Day on Monday.

Amanda said: “Losing our grandfathers to cancer, and as cancer scientists, we know first-hand the impact the disease has on individuals and families.

"That’s why we’re inviting everyone to be part of a movement that can help make a real difference to so many people’s lives."

A Unity Band is a wristband which symbolises solidarity with people affected by cancer.

Available in three different colours – pink, navy and blue – it can be worn in memory of a loved one, to celebrate people who’ve overcome cancer or in support of those going through treatment.

It also raises money through donations to help fund crucial cancer research, like the work being carried out by Grant, 29, and Amanda into breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.

Grant’s work involves looking at how the environment surrounding breast tumours plays a role in turning normal cells into more invasive types of breast cancer, while Amanda is studying how the immune system is involved in helping pancreatic cancer to spread to different parts of the body, such as the lungs.

For both scientists, the ultimate aim is to use the information they discover to help find new and better treatments for cancer.

Marked on February 4, World Cancer Day is designed to raise awareness of cancer and to promote its prevention, detection and treatment.

Unity Bands are available for a suggested donation of £2 from all Cancer Research UK shops in Glasgow and online at cruk.org/worldcancerday