Author Archives: Jennifer Rohn

Britain’s recent deep freeze has got me thinking about ice. One could hardly think of anything else during the worst of it, when negotiating one’s way to the Tube was a delicate balancing act on the un-gritted pavements. (Note to … Continue reading →

Sometimes I feel as if my career is trapped in a bubble of time. While all the scientists around me flow purposely along the classical linear progression from neophyte to tenured lab head, I float in a recursive pattern somewhat … Continue reading →

I spent most of 2009 in the lab engaged in visual pattern recognition – the scientific equivalent of one of these things is not like the other (or, for the Brits amongst you, the odd one out round). In the … Continue reading →

The famous cancer researcher leaned against the podium, smiling as she fielded questions. For the last hour, she had thrilled us with a truly stellar keynote lecture containing a pleasing mix of historical context and cutting-edge results, and now the … Continue reading →

For most normal people, a Sunday afternoon in London might find you down the pub having a lovely roast dinner, a lukewarm pint and a chat about the torrential winter rains or the rugby. But not us geeks: we’ve got … Continue reading →

I sat down the other day to prepare a figure for a paper I’m co-authoring, confident I’d have it dispatched in a matter of minutes. You can see where this is going already, can’t you? It was a relatively clean … Continue reading →

I don’t know about you, but I think today’s dramatic unmasking of scientist Brooke Magnanti as the mysterious call-girl Belle de Jour, blogger and titillating tell-all author, has just done wonders for the reputation of scientists. What could be more … Continue reading →

Some of my happiest moments have happened in the dark. I have a thing for darkrooms. Perhaps it was a bias promoted in early childhood; my father is an artist and during my formative years he was in the process … Continue reading →

In my life as a scientist, I am continually struck by the modest miracle of the microscopic writ large. I think about this every time I streak a solution of invisible bacteria onto a Petri plate and come in the … Continue reading →

A good scientist is never off-duty, which is perhaps why researchers throughout history have experimented on themselves. The 18th century anatomist John Hunter is said to have tested the infectious nature of gonorrhea by applying a patient’s pus to his … Continue reading →