![\"rpg's](\"http:\/\/blogs.usyd.edu.au\/labrats\/nature\/bia.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhy did you become a scientist?<\/p>\n
\nThis weekend my sister–I could, with justification, say my ‘kid’ sister–retires from the Royal Air Force. <\/p>\n
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\nShe has served in the Falklands and nearly been blown up in Iraq. Her husband has served in Bosnia, and will be on active duty in Afghanistan next year. Our father spent 23 years in the RAF, and we grew up on or near airbase after airbase: sometimes within a scant 150 miles of the armoured might of the Soviet Union. It is a matter of record that I am proud of my father, my sister and my brother-in-law, and all that they have done.<\/p>\n
\nUnlike most of my peer group at school I never had a satisfactory answer to the primary question posed by the careers advisors. I did consider joining the RAF (an obvious choice), but in the end decided against it because I didn’t think I’d be good enough<\/em>. So I took ‘A’ Levels in the three sciences, and then, because I wasn’t sure what else to do, read Biochemistry at Oxford. Thence it seemed obvious that I should get my doctorate, and because I loved finding out how things work–taking them apart and trying to put them back together to gain an insight into mechanisms and processes–I did a couple of post-docs and a stint in industry: because they seemed interesting.<\/p>\n \nMaybe it was because I couldn’t think of anything anything better to do?<\/p>\n \nI love cell biology. I love trying to understand the function of proteins from their structure. I love the form, the symmetry, the spartan beauty of enzymic mechanisms. The perfect fit of an aromatic residue between two purines of RNA. The coordination of zinc.<\/p>\n \nI also love taking people and showing them something new: looking down the microscope and saying will you look at this!<\/em> Taking another senior post-doc and her boss, and showing them the results of the transfection I’d done for them.<\/p>\n \n \nAnd that enthusiasm for the natural world, that wonder at its beauty and coherence, is what has kept me a scientist, is what makes me so eager and willing to infect<\/a> the next generation of intellectual stars. Why, probably, the Principal of my girls’ school is keen for me to go in and talk to the leavers as they prepare for high school.<\/p>\n \nI still have this fascination, I still have this innate curiosity that makes me look at a new gadget and think but how does it work<\/strong>?<\/em> But I think it is time to step back from the coalface, if you like, and see how I can share the love. Infect more people. Show them what a fascinating and wondrous world we live in.<\/p>\n \nI have an interview in London next week. I can’t say much about it, but it sounds interesting, and exactly the sort of thing I’d be good at. It’s not my ultimate destination, but it seems like a good route to take.<\/p>\n \nJust as I sat in the careers class all those years ago and made some sort of decision, even if I wasn’t quite sure where it would lead me, I’m turning off this road and taking another one. It’s a bit fogbound at the moment, but I’m confident it will clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Why did you become a scientist? This weekend my sister–I could, with justification, say my ‘kid’ sister–retires from the Royal Air Force. She has served in the Falklands and nearly been blown up in Iraq. Her husband has served in … Continue reading ![\"pictures](\"http:\/\/blogs.usyd.edu.au\/labrats\/images\/cells2.jpg\")
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