My training is in molecular biology, biochemistry, and developmental biology. In graduate school, I did a lot of work on how cells make fate decisions during early embryonic development by turning genes on and off. In other words, I studied how cells decide what they want to be when they grow up. Now, I'm working on a project in cattle cloning and reproduction. Basically, we're trying to make the process more efficient by figuring out the cause of one of the periods of high fetal loss during gestation. It involves a lot of reproductive biology and immunology. I'm kind of the molecular biology guru of the group.
Describe your scientific interest
- Thread starter KJbushway
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I'm also more of a social sciences person. My first degree was an Honours Bachelor in sociology and cultural anthropology, and I'm currently studying towards and Honours Bachelor in Child and Youth Studies and an NVQ3 (supervisory level) in Children's Care, Learning and Development. I've always struggled with math and science but have a strong layperson's interest, especially in zoology, biology, and paleontology. The only university-level science course I've ever taken was The Science of Flight, which I needed for my breadth requirement, and I passed that course because my best friend was studying aeronautical engineering and broke all the concepts down into small words that my non-scientific brain could understand. 
Well my interest in science started at a young age for me as well, but first it was only in the solar system. I have an over-active imagination so that always kept my interest in science. Then I started watching star trek in middle school, by that time I was always creating iron man suits on my homework. Watching star trek(TNG) my interest soared I started reading up on the actual physics on the solar system but those books in middle school weren't that helpful. Then I entered high school and was watching both star trek and Stargate, once again my interest soared to great heights fueled by my over-active imagination. I began to check out all the science books in my school, physics, geology,astronomy,chemistry,and green technology. My favorite subjects were green tech, electricity, different metals and minerals, gravity, magnetism, and space. As I grew up my understanding grew with it, I began reading into fusion, electronics, magnetic fields. Green technology has always been around too, you can see that by the thread I started and my ideas inside of it. I have no plans to go to school for actual scientific degrees because my weak spot is math, I just don't get it. I do plan to get into electronics, specifically computers and video. I want to build my own computer one day, along with its own monitor, but I wont sell.
Teach me.
I love the history of science and the epistemology of science. I took a course for my science education program where I read the book "The Seashell on the Mountaintop," which was all about Nicolai Steno's contributions to geology and geologic time. It was absolutely fascinating what we used to think fossils were.
I have a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and currently teach high school chemistry.
I have a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and currently teach high school chemistry.
paleontology, zoology & archaeology
My main scientific interests are in the field of observational cosmology, especially large scale structure of the universe and statistical analysis of galaxy clustering, using big redshift surveys like VVDS and COSMOS. The ultimate goal of this kind of research would be to discriminate between competing cosmological models, and thus to refine our understanding of our universe. I worked on algorithms to detect galaxy clusters. Recently, I've been starting to delve into high-performance computing, especially in relation to cosmological simulations such the Millennium Run.
I've also done some work in science outreach directed at schools and the general public, both in astronomy and physics.
Beyond that, I'm most intrigued by cognitive sciences, especially in their applications to artificial intelligence, but I'm far from being anything else than an interested layman about them. In the same vein, I'm also a sucker for linguistics, psychology, philosophy and anthropology, and the relationships between them.
I guess I just love science.
I've also done some work in science outreach directed at schools and the general public, both in astronomy and physics.
Beyond that, I'm most intrigued by cognitive sciences, especially in their applications to artificial intelligence, but I'm far from being anything else than an interested layman about them. In the same vein, I'm also a sucker for linguistics, psychology, philosophy and anthropology, and the relationships between them.
I guess I just love science.
For me it's mostly the social sciences and a touch of astronomy.
I've studied history and politics and am currently studying documentary photography, so social sciences are interesting to me. But I'm also very very fascinated by neuropsychology; I really love books by Oliver Sacks, A. Luria, V.S. Ramachandran and the like.
Evolutionary science is also exciting; I once attended a Stephen Jay Gould lecture and afterwards read all his books. And I'm also interested in physics and love Sagan. My husband is a researcher in the field of quantum physics so quantum stuff is of course well liked in our family (and he can usually explain physics stuff to me quite well!) We both share a fascination for astronomy.
So as you can see, I am unable to narrow my interests down to just a few things. This means I end up knowing a little about everything but not very much about anything.
Evolutionary science is also exciting; I once attended a Stephen Jay Gould lecture and afterwards read all his books. And I'm also interested in physics and love Sagan. My husband is a researcher in the field of quantum physics so quantum stuff is of course well liked in our family (and he can usually explain physics stuff to me quite well!) We both share a fascination for astronomy.
So as you can see, I am unable to narrow my interests down to just a few things.
This means I end up knowing a little about everything but not very much about anything.
I have a degree in Computer Science. As far as the natural sciences go, I have a strong interest in physics. I also have had quite a bit of chemistry and am semi-knowledgable in that field. My knowledge of other sciences such as biology, zoology, geology, etc. is more general, as I haven't ever had any in-depth classes in those areas.
Still, I consider myself to be a scientific person.
Still, I consider myself to be a scientific person.
What is 'genetic counselling'?
Good question.
heres the answer:
Genetic counseling is the process of:
heres the answer:
Genetic counseling is the process of:
- evaluating family history and medical records
- ordering genetic tests
- evaluating the results of this investigation
- helping parents understand and reach decisions about what to do next
Not just people wanting to have babies - prenatal diagnostics is one area. Areas also include familial/ hereditary cancers, and metabolic disorders which are picked up on newborn screening tests (this is the area I used to work in).
Some of what is listed here (ordering tests, evaluating lab results) is done by the Clinical Geneticist. A Gen Couns here, is generally not a medical Dr.
Also, decisions are the family's alone. This part of our job is to support their decision after all options have been presented.
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Nowhere Man
Commodore
I want to invent the thing longer, but I need to see what would happen first. Seriously though, i'm don't know much about science. I like it, but don't really get involved in it. I am a history guy myself. If I could choose something though, I would go asfter Aids and Cancer agressively. I know people don't want to hear this, but when they first found out about aids, there should have been a quarantine early on. They should have treated it like they have other viruses. Now it's too late to quarantine people. Cancer should be handled like polio and small pox, just tackle it. I think cancer is bieng caused by chemicals in the environment and other factors like pesticides and radiation. Cancer has killed both of my parents, it's personal for me. I think most of us have been afected by cancer.
A person I know belongs to the very large extended family that carries the gene for Huntington's Disease. The people in this family are all descendants of a woman who arrive as a convict in the mid-19th century and the gene has been passed down through 8 generations (9 generations if you count e woman's father back in the UK who is known to have had the disease). The gene is present in 6 lines of the family and there are nearly 800 people at risk of Huntington Disease. As a result of this Tasmania has one of the highest rates of HD in the world.
Any way the lady I know told me that she had decided to have the genetic test and luckily it came up negative. She had to go through genetic counseling before she had to test and she said that some family members decide against the test after counseling.
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