complexity in the face of redundancy.

there is something about muted gray skies that i adore. it may be the lack of urgency; at any given time of day it could be 8am or 11am or 4pm. i don't feel rushed by the sun darting across the sky, and i'm never blinded when i walk outside. it's delightful.

i've had a week full of positive revelations. here's the most significant one:

three things prompted this change:

1. i've spent the week engaged in serious conversation about science while helping kenji, my labmate, write an NSF grant application. although the goal was to help him clarify the most compelling reasons he has become a budding scientist worthy of funding, it has also forced me to ask this question of myself.

2. my friend carley and i had a heavy conversation about life and what we are doing here while overlooking the ocean at sunset near the bicycle path on campus. there are a set of chairs i always see when bombing home from campus, and we finally took a little time to actually walk out to them.

here is a great illustration of what it looks like from that spot:


3. walter (collaborator/housemate/killer friend) and i tested a new dye that changes color in response to the level of metabolism taking place in whatever cells you are testing. the dye works like a charm and will seriously improve our measurements of cell viability. BUT, the more exciting result of this screening was that i was giddy about it. i was genuinely fulfilled by my work.


this is an uncommon experience for me. i came to grad school for the wrong reasons (healthcare, to satisfy some unspoken parental expectations, socially ingrained personal expectations, etc.). as a result, i have had a pretty miserable time being a researcher. it has been a real struggle to be productive in the lab because i am rarely compelled by the work i'm doing.

this past week that changed.

science INSPIRED me this week. biology in particular. i can't believe that i never took a real biology class. i feel like such a fool! i have known for a long while that all life is primarily composed of Carbon, Oxygen, Sulfur, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus. every chemist knows this. as a chemist we pride ourselves on the manipulation of molecules at the atomic level. this simplicity and redundancy is comforting to me.

HOWEVER, my lack of experience with biology has hindered my ability to fully comprehend how completely stunning the previous fact is.

the two examples that knocked me off my feet:

1. cyclic-di-GMP is a small molecule used by tons of types of bacteria to control changes in these cells. what really gets me is that bacteria have constructed loads of different enzymes to make this single molecule. AND they have also made enzymes to break it into pieces. this one molecule controls a bunch of different things (from virulence to biofilm formation to developmental transitions). it is made and broken down in response to local environmental cues. it is an amazing molecule! how can one molecule do ALL THESE THINGS!

the craziest part about this is that we barely know anything about this little molecule. we are just starting to scrape of surface of what this little bundle of atoms is responsible for accomplishing in bacteria. this BLEW UP MY MIND last week.

2. our immune system is fucking out of hand. we have ONE SYSTEM to deal with all types of wack-ass infections that are constantly colonizing our system. that's amazing! the fact that your body evolved a system that can deal with most nasty diseases is crazy.

BOTTOM LINE:

learning more about biology has uncovered the mind boggling complexity of life (us and bacteria). yet, there is still an incredible degree of redundancy in these processes. redundancy beyond atoms.

awesome.