Master Science as a Second Language: But Don’t Forget your First

Text and Photo by Nicholas Potochick

“Inhibition of non-canonical translational initiation reduces elongation rate in eukaryotic ribosomes lacking non-essential ribosomal protein eS25 by adopting irregular translocational conformational states…”

 Zzzzzzzz…See … I lost you, didn’t I?

That’s my problem. In fact it’s the problem of a lot of scientists. Science naturally deals with a lot of complex jargon that requires communication of important ideas to be precise and technical. Yet this language can be difficult to grasp, or just incredibly dull, to those who aren’t experts. Hence, while science-ese serves a purpose among scientists, it becomes a fool-proof cure for insomnia when we try to talk to non-scientists.

So, let’s try this again. Take two, this time without the sleep-inducing language.

“I study a protein that helps your body interpret very specific types of genetic code, and without it, your cells can’t read that code. My research is important because some potentially dangerous viruses mimic this type of genetic code to trick your body into making viruses. Oh, and you know what else uses these special genetic codes? Cancer.”

I bet that caught your attention.

When science is written only for scientists, as it is in academic journals, it’s hard for the average person to understand the importance of the work done in a research lab. When we scientists don’t take the time to translate our work back to our native language, we don’t communicate why it matters. When we don’t show why it matters, our research doesn’t get funded. And we don’t make progress towards treating cancer and curing diseases.

Getting the picture?

“The protein I study is found in the ribosome, the machinery of the cell that converts RNA into proteins. I know what the protein does when you are sick, but what does it do when you are well? I use a method called Polysome Analysis to see how effectively the ribosomes are converting RNA. Specifically, I use chemicals to throw a wrench into the ribosome’s gears while it performs specific tasks. This method enables me to see if cells without the protein of interest are getting worse at reading RNA. It’s important to know what something does before you remove it, or you could end up make people sicker instead of better.”

Is it becoming clearer?

One reason for the disconnect between science-ese and the common tongue is because, in the past, scientists were not taught how to talk to the public. For example, I was not urged to take a course in science communication when earning my bachelor’s degree in biology at Oakland University. Currently, I’m earning a PhD in Biomedical Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and up until recently, all of my focus was on learning my science.

Today, however, I am involved in innovative new programs encouraging new scientists to explore opportunities away from the research bench and engage the public. I enrolled in UAB’s Experiences program through the university’s Office of Postdoctoral Education. This program offers a science communication boot camp that provides hands on instruction for learning to talk and write about science in a way that is accessible to the public. It also helps us expand other critical job skills, such as research administration, policy making, and entrepreneurship, which may be sought after by biotech companies.

“In conclusion, we found that normal, healthy cells without our protein aren’t seriously harmed, but cells producing certain viruses and certain types of cancer are. Now we need to continue this research to figure out how best to use this knowledge to help people prevent or fight disease.”

Not bad, huh? With a little practice, I think I can become completely bilingual.     

 

What I’m Working On: A “Sweet” Cure for Skin Cancer

By Erin M. Burns, PhD, MSPH

“We are going to have to do something to cover up those tan lines!”

“Your back is so tanned, you look like a native islander!”

“Erin, you are going to get skin cancer!”

I am blonde and wear a fair-skinned coat in winter. But these are just a couple of exclamations I heard through my high school and college years as a bronzed, sun-worshiping lifeguard at our neighborhood pool. As Spring Break approaches on college campuses, and students I know head South with bikinis and beach towels, I think about the chances they are taking. And I worry.

Luckily, I am not one of the nearly 3 million Americans diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) annually with an update. But as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), I am researching preventive treatments for this type of skin cancer to help decrease the statistics and help change the way we think about health, beauty and yes, I know this is ambitious, Spring Break.

NMSC is the most common cancer and nearly completely preventable with the regular use of sunscreen. However, many people believe that they look better and healthier with a tan and continue to sunbathe or use tanning beds. Billions of dollars are spent treating NMSC each year. Although surgery successfully treats most NMSC, the surgeries can be disfiguring and nearly 9,000 people die annually. Needlessly.

Here is where my research comes in. We are working on treatments to prevent the development of skin cancer in the first place, even if people have been tanning for years, like I did in my youth. Our laboratory at UAB has been investigating a specific type of honey, and we found that by drinking water with this honey, tumor development is significantly decreased in our animal model (manuscript in progress).

This treatment has not been tested sufficiently in humans yet, but this sweet treatment could help reduce skin cancer incidence. In the future, as you are getting ready for a week at the beach for vacation, or Spring Break, you may be packing a beach umbrella , sunless tanning lotion, and a jar of honey.

In fact, now that I think about it, Winnie the Pooh was right: “The only reason for being a bee is to make honey. And the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.”

Have a Sweet Spring Break!

What I'm Working on: LA Anxiety? Welcome to the Jungle

By Dr. Alex Van Ness

The running of the bulls in Pamplona? Indiana Jones fleeing the boulder?!? Yeah, they’ve got nothing on me.

I’m talking about the recent International Stroke Conference (ISC) in Los Angeles, California. I have to admit that learning of this location provoked something akin to PTSD in me. The last time I was in Los Angeles for an ISC meeting, I was traumatized.

Imagine, if you will, a budding physician-scientist walking back from the conference center on a sunny California afternoon, mulling over the latest clinical trials, pulling a stuffed laptop case. Suddenly, a red double-decker bus comes out of nowhere, blasting some sort of horrible sound that passes for music. I turned and looked, unable to ignore the music any more than I could an ice pick in my brain. The bus was large and filled with ponytail sporting Tweens, all of whom appeared to be screaming or singing along to a throbbing and undecipherable jingle.

Streetwise, I tucked my head and tried to ignore them, while continuing down the sidewalk to my hotel. The next thing I knew, something, a projectile of sorts, hit me in the right shoulder. When I looked around, the only possible culprit was the double-decker bus. On the ground, lay a red bundle. Instinctively, I picked it up, stuffed it in my bag, and kept walking. I didn’t even make it another block before I sustained another direct hit—this time by a white tube-like structure. Again, I saw no one around me except the ponytailed troop on that double-decker bus. Realizing that the second piece of ammo was a T-shirt, I deduced that the singing ponytails were sniping me using T-shirt guns.

That was it.  A woman has her limits.  I accelerated and veered left, shaking them off the trail to my hotel. Just when I thought I had escaped, I was surrounded by high-pitched screams. Looking over my shoulder, I confronted a herd of girls running right at me (not unlike that terrible scene from “The Lion King.”)  I quickly realized I was trapped between the charging pigtails and a performance stage. I did what any sane academic would do… I grabbed the handle of my laptop pull case and ran for my life!

I didn’t stop until I reached the hotel lobby, a sweating, panting heap. I must have looked shaken, because the bartender inquired about my well-being. Astutely, he offered me a drink, and I ordered a Tanqueray and tonic with two limes.While I was still gathering my bearings at bar, one of my colleagues approached me and asked what was wrong. I described the traumatic event. After comforting me with a series of snorts and laughs, she inquired about the projectiles that struck me.

I took them out of my bag, holding them at arm’s length for her to see. Chuckling, she asked if I knew who Justin Bieber was. Who??? He is a pop icon starring at a concert nearby, she explained, happily securing the T-shirts in her backpack for her daughters. I said I hoped that her daughters would appreciate the genuine artifacts, given that I had risked my life acquiring them. She was pretty sure that they would since “he’s to die for.”

Tips and Tricks: Trying not to get bogged down, literally and figuratively

Posted by Taylor Roberge

As a biologist, this past field season for me has been quite successful, sometimes through no fault of my own. In addition to the ongoing diamondback terrapin recovery program, several of our deadline projects were completed successfully, thanks to the gracious help of several friends and colleagues. These victories included evaluating the effects of nest microhabitat on hatchling turtle phenotype, as well as an intensive trapping effort along coastal Alabama. Our goal with the trapping was to recapture reared turtles and assess whether raising and releasing post hatchlings is a cost effective conservation strategy. As my field work draws to a close, one thought comes to mind: Writing season has begun! Looking at the backlog of research writing coming due makes me feel like I’m back in the marsh, and stuck up to my waist in pluff mud (especially now that I can see the holidays approaching).

Removing a fyke net during a very low tide

Luckily, I have found some time managing and writing strategies, which in my opinion, make things a bit more manageable and less overwhelming.

 

• Make a list or a plan (if you haven’t already). Include any deadlines or associated time lines. If a project is more open-ended, set some realistic timelines so that you have a goal to shoot for. If left too open-ended, it'll never happen. See these tools to create a Writing Project Plan and a Publication Plan (from writing coach Dr. Jennifer L. Greer in the Professional Development Program at the UAB Graduate School) if you really want to get organized, or if you are working on high-stakes projects, like a grant or a thesis or dissertation.

 

• Prioritize writing projects. There is no one good way to do this other than to make sure you are sticking to hard deadlines. I like to group complementary projects together so I can kill two birds with one stone, as they say, when researching literature. I also like to make sure I disperse some of the projects that I’m not so excited about writing with those that I am excited about to help break things up. If I get bored, I move to another project. 

 

• Set a writing schedule (and stick to it). This strategy seems like a no brainier but can be one of the hardest parts to stick to. For me, writing for a short (2 hours) a day is more productive than trying to binge write and get burnt out on a project.

• Check off specific tasks for quick gratification. I find it much more satisfying to be able to physically mark through projects as I finish. So I make paper lists of my writing tasks I can hang near my desk as a reminder of what is coming up as well as what I have completed.

 

Let me know how these tips work for you to make your writing more productive If you have any other tips that help to prevent you from having a panic attack when you look at your writing to-do list, let us know in the comments. Writers rule. Especially when it's too cold for a biologist to truck through the muck.