Mira Aroyo was born 1977 in Sofia, Bulgaria,[1][2] to Bulgarian Jewish[2]

background. Aroyo moved with her family to Israel when she was ten and,
later, to the United Kingdom.[2]

The first musical instrument that Aroyo ever played was the guitar.[3] Also
when she was younger, she played the accordion.[4] Although her parents
were cautious about her decision to pursue music, Aroyo's parents were
nevertheless supportive and respectful of her decision.[5]
Career
Scientific career

Following the completion of her undergraduate education, Aroyo pursued

postgraduate research studies in genetics;[6] she was a D.Phil. student[7] in
the Division of Molecular Genetics, Department of Biochemistry of the
University of Oxford,[8] where she was supervised by Dr. Franois-Xavier
Barre[9] and Professor David J. Sherratt.[10][11][12] In 2003, the Department
of Biochemistry noted that Aroyo was a postgraduate geneticist and
recognised the release of her band's second album, Light and Magic.[13]

Contrary to claims that she completed her D.Phil., specifically in or around

2002,[14] (though it has also been claimed that, as late as 2008, she was still
a D.Phil. candidate),[15] Aroyo left science and her D.Phil. programme before
completing it and graduating.[7] In an interview with The Sunday Mail, she
explained that, "We all had jobs when we started Ladytron then little by little
we ditched them. I was a geneticist doing a PhD and realizing lab work wasn't
for me. We were doing Ladytron at the same time and I was enjoying it more.
It was easier and more fun".[16] In a later interview, when asked, "Apparently
you were enrolled as a PhD student in Oxford. Seems like a pretty prestigious
post did you ever have any doubts leaving academia for Ladytron?", Aroyo
replied, "Yes. For the first 3 years of Ladytron I was juggling both, until it
became apparent that I would be compromising both if I continued that way. I
was young and it seemed a lot more fun at the time to travel the world
playing music".[17]