Answer: Well, it is not a tweet-up even though it I noted that the hashtag #sciencecafe was being used. This is a panel including Dr. Valerie Sim, a scientist; Jay Ingram, a science correspondent; and moderator Karen Owen, a TV broadcaster. Tonight’s topic is “Science vs. the Media — Can we trust science news in the media?”, part of the Telus Spark Science Café series held at The Ironwood Stage and Grill.
It was hard finding a place to park in Inglewood, but I was confident there would be plenty of spaces to sit. Was I wrong! I should have known better. The Science Café has been going on for six years now and has grown in popularity with each event. Add the star power of a Jay Ingram and you have the Ironwood so full that people are even sitting on chairs ringing the sides of stage.
Dr. Sim asked us to think back to high school and compare the science nerds with the drama geeks. She pointed out that while there were exceptions, the two groups did not often overlap. Fast forward to adult careers, and you have the white-coated scientist, perhaps using a lot of jargon, having their story greatly shortened and retold with a potentially misinterpreted message which does not relay the passion for which the original science was done.
When it was Jay Ingram’s time to talk, he pointed out that shows like Discovery.Ca are for profit and they must understand and cater to the viewers to keep getting the numbers required by the sponsors. Furthermore, with the show’s success and the need to continue growing audiences, there is less appetite for risk taking. This actually shrinks the types of stories that will be told.
Ingram and Sim next conducted hilarious mock interviews illustrating three types of dysfunctional communication between a scientist and a media person. This demonstration had the audience in stitches of laughter, as we all recognized that we have witnessed each of these interview styles over the years.
When I was a kid in school, I would go with friends to see films such as The Lone Ranger or The Three Stooges on a Saturday afternoon at my local theatre, The Plaza. Amazingly, The Plaza is still there. It is home to Calgary’s alternate films and events. Today it is rented out to Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions for a matinee showing of Jurassic Park. This movie is another in their series of Science in the Cinema which was described by guest blogger Marion Hutchins last year.
There is a buzz coming from the audience, comprised of a significant percentage of excited young children. Then, near silence as the lights dim and Marion Hutchins steps into the spotlight and asks if we like dinosaurs. The children roar their approval. After explaining the Science in the Cinema program, she introduces today’s speaker, Dr. Derrick Rancourt, PhD, professor in the department of medical genetics at University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine.
Dr. Rancourt explains that he studies the genetic manipulation of mice. He also tells us that he is a big fan of author Michael Crichton. Jurassic Park, published in 1990, was written by Crichton to help the public understand the societal issues that arise from cloning. Crichton also wrote the screenplay of the movie, which was released in 1993. Mice had already been cloned by 1987; Dolly the sheep was not cloned until 1996, three years after the movie’s premiere.
To get us ready to watch the movie, Dr. Rancourt explains that cloning in the 1990s required an intact nucleus from the organism to be placed into a de-nucleated cell. He notes that finding an intact dinosaur nucleus is not very probable. Dr. Rancourt asks us to think about the feasibility of two things during the course of the movie for discussion afterwards:
1. The process of putting the dinosaur DNA into the cell; and
2. The procedures used for biocontainment.*
Don’t worry about the Mayan calendar. The important day this year is April 20 which has been declared DNA Day in Alberta. In a previous blog, I reminded you to keep a spot on your calendar; now, as I learn additional details, I am keeping you posted.
I had a lot of fun last year on DNA Day, and I learned a lot when I was able to simultaneously participate in four moderated chatrooms dedicated to discussion with some of Canada’s foremost scientists in the field of genomics. Again this year, this is an excellent opportunity for teachers to showcase social media opportunities to their students through communication with scientists who are the innovative leaders in both research and communication technologies.
Recently, Alana DeLong (MLA for Calgary-Bow) released a YouTube video of her speech in the Alberta Legislature regarding last year’s DNA Day. It is nice to see such support for our endeavor.
Sarthak Sinha was a silver medalist at the Canada-Wide Science Fair 2011. He was also the winner of both the Bachelor of Health Science Award and the Calgary Medical Society Award at the Calgary Youth Science Fair this past year. As he prepares for the 2012 Science Fair season, he took the time out to send me a small video sharing his excitement for his latest project which examines Retinoic Acid signalling on skin derived precursors.
Sarthak is a Grade 10 International Baccalaureate student at Henry Wise Wood High School. He joined the Biernaskie Lab at the University of Calgary to gain a hands-on understanding of how human bodies function and how to better administer clinical treatments. He has done research in the field of stem cells since ninth grade.
What are the chances that, immediately after I finish reading a book, I end up noticing two announcements about issues talked about in the final chapters of the book? Well, if it is a book about mathematics, the chances are pretty good.
Yesterday, two apparently unrelated announcements were made. In the first, the genome of the so-called arsenic bacterium was sequenced. There has been a year-long debate over whether extra-terrestrial life implications were found in this bacterium, which purportedly uses arsenic in place of phosphorus in its DNA backbone. The other announcement proclaimed that a Super-Earth is only 600 light years away. This is exciting news indeed, though with this Goldilocks exoplanet being in such a far-off solar system, it will take the equivalent of the Starship Enterprise to visit it. I’m not packing my bags for this trip yet.
In The Mathematics of Life, author Ian Stewart proclaims that there have been five major revolutions in Biology, with a sixth on the way:
•Invention of the microscope
•Systematic classification of living things
•Development of the theory of evolution
•Discovery of the gene
•Discovery of the structure of DNA
•Broader incorporation of biomathematics
I picked the book up hoping that I might gain a better understanding of the relatively new science of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics only recently entered the scientific lexicon as the mathematical analogy to biochemistry and biophysics. I personally have become more aware of bioinformatics as it makes an important contribution to interpreting genomic data. Stewart points out that bioinformatics is the science of big computing used to sort through billions of data points related to genomics. His book is primarily about the application of mathematics to biological problems. I learned about the mathematics of virus shapes, and nodes in nerves, movement, and hallucinations. Stewart tells about calculations needed to determine if DNA forms knots. He looks at patterns of spots and stripes. I enjoyed the way he formed a mathematical relationship between predicting the outcome of a game of rock/paper/scissors and evolution. He devotes entire chapters to each of the math of networks and populations. I was slightly disappointed in his treatment of chaos. Although he defines the concept, I was left bewildered when he says it is possible to tell the difference between random and chaos results. I am not sure he told us how.
In the end, I was fascinated with the mathematics of life on other planets. Stewart talks about both exoplanets and DNA with arsenic in place of phosphorus in the backbone. Stewart shows how we might not ever be able to prove life exists on other planets, but he suggests that we can certainly use mathematical modelling to explore the possibility that there is anybody out there.
The Mathematics of Life by Ian Stewart is a book I recommend to anyone with an interest in the interplay of mathematics and biological sciences. Teachers should mention this as a great read to the type of students who are very strong in mathematics and just taking biology because it is a necessary credit course. They will gain an appreciation of the application of pure mathematics to everything from molecules to exoplanets.
It was hard finding a place to park in Inglewood, but I was confident there would be plenty of spaces to sit. Was I wrong! I should have known better. The Science Café has been going on for six years now and has grown in popularity with each event. Add the star power of a Jay Ingram and you have the Ironwood so full that people are even sitting on chairs ringing the sides of stage. 
When I was a kid in school, I would go with friends to see films such as The Lone Ranger or The Three Stooges on a Saturday afternoon at my local theatre, 
