Insecurities addressed

I haven't written for a while, but I didn't want to be one of those people who just write something because they haven't for a while and actually have nothing to say.

At the start of the week I submitted my first Alumni Association piece. I focused it on the 'accidental' nature of the discovery, and how science often works that way etc. I got an email back from the editor today saying that although the piece was interesting, it wasn't quite the focus they were going for, it would be better to pique readers' interest if the question was “How will the discovery affect me and my health?” So she wondered if I would be happy if we used my original student newspaper article with a couple of pieces of the new article spliced in.

I understood, but I was frustrated and a little disappointed. I didn't want to write more news; I was hoping I'd get to explore something more. Of course I'm happy to have the experience and such, and will work harder to make future articles to their liking, but it also shapes the kind of writing I want to produce one day.

In the email, the editor said 'Just be sure to keep in mind the questions that most appeal to our readers: “How does this research/discovery affect my health, happiness, family, pocketbook, or understanding of the world?”' And this is the crux of most news writing these days: 'So what?' But I wish I could write more about things that are just...interesting, I love things that are not what people think of usually, for example this issue of how many new discoveries in science are made by 'accident'. The things I love learning about most are concepts or ideas I never thought about before, and this is what I love writing about too. I suppose what I'm saying is really I'd like to be a science writer rather than a science journalist per se, but see journalism as a passage to this. And journalism can be fun too, and can provide opportunities for further scope, such as the Lawrence Krauss article... but news can be so stuffy. I should try the features section of the student paper some day... but I doubt they'd be so interested in my science musings either.

Sometimes it's hard to have depression and to start a new direction. Depression makes a person feel worthless, useless, stupid and a let-down to others in every day life as it is let alone with this pressure of trying to succeed in something you've never tried before. Even if the logical part of my mind knows I'm still learning, and that I have to pitch to the right audience and it will take time to get these things right... it doesn't stop the chemically-imbalanced part having a tantrum.

Well, to cheer myself up I've decided to post here the original version of the article I wrote about Dr Lamb for the Alumni Association, since there shouldn't be any copy-write issues.

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How did a cancer researcher end up discovering an amino acid that plays a vital role in the body’s immune response, potentially boosting vulnerable people’s disease-fighting power? It seems a world away from investigating how cell growth can get out of control, leading to cancerous tumours, but for Dr. Richard Lamb the discovery was a happy consequence of routine experiments throwing up extraordinary results. Lamb, an associate professor from the department of oncology at the Cross Cancer Institute, explained that although the route of inquiry he took to discover the role of the amino acid arginine in the immune response was a departure from his normal work, it was the logical response to a discovered question. It had to be solved, at least in part, and Lamb’s lab had the power to solve it.

“There’s different types of scientists; there’s scientists that study one question and go to a very deep level to understand it; and then there’s scientists who are more the problem identifiers/solvers, they go from one problem to the next. I’ve done a bit of both [...] but I prefer the identifying a new problem.”

In this case, while testing the removal of amino acids from normal cells, Lamb found a breakdown in the system that attracts infection-fighting macrophages to the site of infection. The question then became which amino acid was causing this effect? Removing arginine from other biochemical systems was known to block signalling processes, so a set of experiments was designed to test the effect of arginine in the immune response. The results were clear; arginine played a major role, although the exact mechanism is still to be determined. But, reaching this conclusion from a series of experiments branching from unsuccessful investigation into another system was remarkable.

Lamb is enthusiastic about the workings of science, and believes the mantra of science funding bodies should be ‘people, not projects’. Real scientific progress is rarely made within the confines of a set proposal, carried through to the letter to the very end, producing the exact result first aimed for. If this were true, his lab would never have discovered the critical role of arginine, which certainly has profound implications for human health. The potential benefits include the treatment of undernourished people, intensive care patients and even arthritis sufferers, if an excess of arginine is found to cause an overreaction of the immune system.

However, Lamb’s lab will leave these deeper issues to other researchers and return to focusing on its original purpose of working out the mechanism by which cell growth is controlled by a complex pathway of chemical signalling. Normal cell growth is limited, but some part of this pathway breaks down in many cases of cancer, causing runaway growth. There are still many problems to be identified and solved.

“The abnormalities that are found in cancer just present opportunity for basic researchers like me to try and delve deeper into understanding what’s happening normally, to then understand what’s going on in cancer.”

No study is completed by one person though, and on the scientific journey from cancer to immunity Lamb took with him many colleagues in labs across Europe and in particular his post-doctoral fellow, Virginie Mieulet. Mieulet has now moved on to her own lab, and will hopefully continue to investigate the importance of arginine. Any further progress to bring the benefits of arginine to the real world will require collaboration between many experts in a range of fields.

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For the writing class this week we work-shopped in groups the second drafts of our essays. The guy I was partnering with last week re-wrote his piece absolutely wonderfully; he really did give a personal insight into his 'relationship' with Mohammed and the result was astounding. I wish I had the right to post his story here, it was truly great. My own story... I think it's ok, it will go through one more draft, then I will probably post it. I think it's an ok start, but I have to branch out and improve for the next assignment. I already have ideas for that.