To coincide with my move to the University of Michigan, Seed Magazine has just published a series of ten questions and answers on what I do and what motivates me as a scientist. You can read how well I fared (or didn’t, as the case may be) with questions as diverse as “How do you explain your job at cocktail parties?” to “Why do you do science?” on the Seed Magazine website.
I was surprised to hear that Seed sometimes have to hard-sell the idea of this series to scientists – who doesn’t want to pontificate about what they are reading, or who they would most like to meet? But I must confess, answering questions like “Why do you do science?” and “What inspires you?” was tougher than I imagined.
Previous articles in Seed’s “10 Questions” series include:
- James Kasting on the odds of finding another earth-like planet and the power of science fiction;
- Kirsten Bomblies on the immune system of plants and how young scientists can keep inspiration alive;
- John Rinn onwhy we should dumpster-dive in our genomes and the inspiration of a middle-distance runner; and
- Amy Cannon on low-energy solar cells, training scientists to weed out toxicity, and what makes benign chemistry such a good business proposition.
Ironically, on the same day the New York Times article, “Safety Rules Can’t Keep Up With Biotech Industry” broke, the scientific watchdog group, The Council for Responsible Genetics-GeneWatch Magazine submitted the electronic version of the print subscription; March-April 2010 issue titled, “BioLab Safety”.
The Editor of GeneWatch, Sam Anderson stated in the Editorial Section, ” This may be one of the most important GeneWatch issue in recent memory”.
The electronic version of GeneWatch magazine; BioLab Safety is available free online at http://issuu.com/genewatchmagazine/docs/genewatch23-2?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true This 28 page electronic version can be read as you would a “printed” magazine issue.
March-April 2010 issue; “BioLab Safety” articles:
A Cruel and Unusual Corporation
By Ralph Nader
A Roach in the Kitchen
By CRG staff – interview with Becky McClain
Commentary: GM Crops
By Eric Hoffman
Dedication: Tony Mazzocchi
By Jeremy Gruber
Give Them an Inch…
By Michael Siciliano
One Bug, One Drug
By Lynn Klotz, Edward Sylvester
The Lab in My Backyard
By Beth Willis
Teatime in the Lab
By Sam Anderson
Book Review: Breeding Bio Insecurity and Germs Gone Wild
By Andrew Thibedeau
Flushing It Down the Rabbit Hole
By Andrew Thibedeau
Topic: Genetic Discrimination
By Jeremy Gruber
Topic: Forensic DNA Databanks
By CRG Staff
The Case of Dr. Malcolm Casadaban
By CRG Staff