On weekdays, she splits genes. On Sundays, she just does splits.

Cambridge resident Theresa Oei is a 23-year-old rookie cheerleader with the New England Patriots. She�s also a molecular biophysicist at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard.

Cheering and working on cutting edge genome research, Oei doesn�t fit the stereotype of a scientist or a cheerleader. In many ways, however, excelling at science and sports is quintessentially Massachusetts.

The Chronicle caught up with Oei before she flew down to Houston with her fellow Patriots cheerleaders ahead of the big game on Sunday.

This is your first year on the Patriots cheerleading squad. What led you to joining the team?

I had never done any cheerleading growing up, but I studied ballet and competitive Irish step dancing. I�ve been dancing since I was 5. I learned to Irish step dance at the Griffith Academy in Connecticut [Oei is a Connecticut native].

I�ve competed all over Ireland, I was a New England champion, second in America and sixth in the world. I�m half Irish and half Chinese and it�s always been part of my heritage and something that�s important to me.

I was missing dance a bit. I had sort of retired from Irish step dancing in college. I thought it would be a fun thing to do to tryout for the Pats. It�s an opportunity to get out of the lab and do something fun. So one thing led to another and I actually Irish danced in my final solo audition. It�s a different form of dance, but there�s a basic technique that underlies all forms of dance.

I was excited to make the team. I�ve always enjoyed watching football, always been a big Pats fan.

What have been some of the highlights for you this season?

The season has been a whirlwind, I can�t believe it�s already February. I�ve really enjoyed getting to know the other women on team, everyone brings different things to the table and they�re all incredibly supportive.

When Brady returned after suspension it was also the breast cancer awareness game and we had 150 survivors standing on the field with us. When the players ran out of the tunnel, that was a special moment.

I think the AFC championship game was my favorite, the energy of the place was incredible. Singing living on a prayer with Jon Bon Jovi or dancing with Martellus Bennett, it was a lot of fun.

Tell us about your day job and how you became interested in science.

I work in the lab of Feng Zhang at the Broad Institute. I focus on genome-editing technology. We�re studying ciliated protozoa, basically a small microorganism that we isolate from pond water. It has this crazy genome rearrangement system that we want to understand and manipulate in human cells.

I always knew I was interested in science. Even back in high school doing projects from using jellyfish to improve sunscreens to creating a kite power system to make renewable energy, I had the science bug. I headed to Yale to study molecular biophysics and I had the opportunity to work in world class research labs.

After graduation I wanted to work in a different environment and there�s really no place like Boston for the concentration for groundbreaking research in biotech, it�s an exciting place to be.

Are people more surprised when they hear you cheer or when they hear you�re a scientist?

I think it�s surprise on both ends. The stereotypes don�t meld. Everyone that I talk to about it is surprised at first, then supportive. They say "good for you" instead of "oh, that�s weird."

What are you future aspirations?

I'd like to get my teaching certification for Irish stepdancing. I�m also hoping to pursue a Ph.D. next fall. I�m looking at Harvard programs, MIT, going back to Yale or Stanford. I�d like to look at genetic regulation and understanding how the human genome is controlled and influenced by non-coding areas of the genome�

What does that mean?

The genome codes for lots of proteins. Say this sequence of the human genome codes for a protein in heart, for example. But there are also huge regions of the genome that don�t seem to code for anything and don�t make a particular protein.

Some people thought it was just junk DNA, but it seems these regions have influence on regulating things such as how much protein to make or it silences a particular sequence.

And cheering for the Pats?

It�s a possibility. I�m not sure where I�ll be next year so I�m keeping the door open. I�ve had a wonderful time so I�ll definitely consider auditioning again.