By Dr. Thomas Merritt
Communication is a huge part of science. We often think of the scientist locked away in his lab (sadly, the stereotype is almost always male), madly toiling away on some mysterious set of experiments.
The reality is that much of what I do as a scientist, much of what most scientists do, is communicate. We write about our science. We talk about our science. We write even more about our science as we struggle to ensure funding for that science.
This image of scientists as communicators may not be such a hard sell in Sudbury, home of Science North, Canada’s second largest science centre and an international leader in science communication. Many families grow up spending many hours with the Blue Coats at Science North learning about the natural world. Mine certainly has.
In addition, many scientists take an active part in communicating their science through Science North. Dr. Dave Pearson may be the best known, but many professors at Laurentian University help shape the science at Science North and use the centre as a way to talk to the public about their own work. Dr. Amadeo Parissenti, Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk, and myself are just three examples. Talking to the public is a big part of what we do as scientists.
What may be less well understood is how important it is for scientists to talk to other scientists; science progresses because we share ideas. We challenge and inspire each other.
To that end, on Oct. 19-20, Laurentian University sponsored a genetics conference here in Sudbury. The meeting brought together about 60 researchers from 25 laboratories at 18 universities and institutes from across Europe and North America. This was the seventh annual Pairing Meeting and the first time the meeting has been held outside of the U.S. Past hosts include Dartmouth College and The Harvard Medical School.
This diverse group of scientists all study chromosomes: how they are structured, how that structure determines how genes function, and, ultimately, how biology works. As a reminder, chromosomes are those long threads of DNA and protein that are so visible as a cell divides and the home of the genetic information (the biological blueprint) in every cell. Strikingly, although chromosomes were some of the first sub-cellular structures observed – over 170 years ago – we still know surprisingly little about their structure and how that structure influences biology.
The meeting is important because this group is so far-flung. Many of us see each other only once or twice a year – but we need to know what each other are doing. What are the newest results? What experiments are promising? Maybe more importantly, we also need to push each other.
Almost two-thirds of this two-day meeting consisted of questions and answers. Have you tried this? Have you looked at that? Did you control for something else? This kind of pushing and questioning can be challenging, but also one of the most exciting parts of doing science – and almost requires face-to-face interactions. The energy during these discussions is amazing.
In the end, the meeting was a huge success. In no small part due to local businesses like Old Rock Coffee, Tucos Tacos, Hiawatha Catering, Regency Bakery and Stack Brewery.
Good coffee and good food drive a lot of conversations. Beer helps, too.
The scientists left exhausted, but re-energized, with new ideas, new experiments to try, maybe a new take on the results they brought with them. Most importantly, we all left with a little better idea of how the world around us works and how we can keep pushing to understand it better.
Dr. Thomas Merritt is a Canada Research Chair in the genomics and bioinformatics in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Laurentian University.
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