About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
Category Archives: LabLit
In which we despair: show and tell is alive and well
I have a theory about best-selling authors. Once they have finally made their breakthroughs, they tend to get lazy. I have noticed that subsequent novels often become longer – just eyeball your collection of Harry Potters on the bookshelf and … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Writing
9 Comments
In which I am still largely at large: another mother in academia
Blogging appearances to the contrary, I am still alive, clinging gamely to some semblance of work-life balance as a new mother in academia. Not so new anymore, I realize, as Joshua hurtles, one milestone at a time, toward his first … Continue reading
In which my language becomes everyone’s – for a moment
Following on from my piece in the Guardian this week about the chickenpox vaccine, my friend Buffy clued me in to this clever little number in the Onion that had been published the day before. It’s too gloriously sunny and … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Scientific thinking, Silliness
4 Comments
In which we are inundated: the #ukstorm lingers on
Britain is as soggy as a crumpet dunked in tea. (No Brits I know actually dunk their crumpets in tea, but it sounds suitably British, doesn’t it?) Even for a wet, rainy country used to wet, rainy winters, it’s been … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Politics
10 Comments
In which I get my mojo back
So 2012 has drawn to a close, a new year is upon us and London’s seemingly endless broodiness gave way to brilliant sunshine today. Out in our local park this morning, strewn with spent fireworks and empty Champagne bottles, unusually … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, Writing
5 Comments
In which a classic tale of DNA and discovery is recast
As for many people in the molecular biology profession, my first reading of The Double Helix by James Watson was a revelation. I can’t recall how old I was – probably in my late teens. I had already decided I … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, The profession of science, Women in science, Writing
6 Comments
In which lab lit storms New York
Last night my publisher emailed me in high excitement to tell me that I, and my magazine LabLit.com, had received some positive coverage in The New York Times. Do have a read of this (freely available) piece by Katherine Bouton … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Writing
8 Comments
In which I am not a science cheerleader
There is something seductive about the scientific profession: it exerts a gravity so powerful that it can hoover all of the surrounding universe into its warped perspective. If you have your heart set on being a scientist, you set off … Continue reading
In which I powder my nose
It’s rather disconcerting to enter a stall in a public lavatory, sit down – and see your own name staring back at you on the inner door advertising. Does this mean I’ve really hit the big-time? /Ducks in preparation for … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Silliness, Writing
5 Comments
In which numbers lie – except when they flatter us
Bibliometrics have been making me cross recently. In the past month, I’ve stumbled across two instances where journal impact factors were being used in a grossly inappropriate way to assess the worth and quality of scientist colleagues. This exposure in … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Scientific papers, The profession of science, Writing
20 Comments
