2011-02-18 看到今天科学网上翻译的一则《科学》社论: 科研工作值得女性“费心”尝试,因有兴趣就到英文原文链接去读了原文。 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6019/821.full 作为正在走这条路的过来人, 对其中一句深表同意,摘录下来给路过这里的年轻女生科学家看。 To be a mother and a scientist is well worth the effort. 如果你对做研究感兴趣,没必要像Rosalind Franklin 和 Barbara McClintock 那样牺牲做妈妈的温暖和乐趣。
美国的FASEB Journal是一本我喜欢的科学杂志,尤其是这本杂志每一期 由主编Gerald Weissmann主笔的社论,不光是言之有物,还常常是笔下生花。 记得Weissmann写过一篇社论,讲科学论文摘要的写作。他说,如果你的科学论文是一篇散文(Prose),那么这篇文章的摘要则是一首诗(Poem)。这个比喻毫不过分地强调了文字简练、明快,构思精致,语言表达准确,并且有“郁郁夫文采”对于摘要的重要性。事实上,很多人(没有做过调查统计,但我估计是多数人)读科学论文先读摘要。摘要有吸引力,才进一步去读文章。根据我的经验,美国很多教授审查科研基金申请也是先用五分钟读摘要。摘要如果没有吸引力,这篇申请书多半要进垃圾桶。 Weissmann最近有篇社论,纪念“历史上第一位女科学家”、公元4世纪埃及亚历山大港的希帕蒂娅(Hypatia)。她在那时已经得出天体运动轨迹不是正圆而是椭圆的结论,并开始思考“日心说”,早于伽利略一千年。希帕蒂娅对真理的执着追求,她对束缚人的头脑的宗教教条的严格批评,和她在思想界的巨大影响,使她成为刚刚得势的基督教教堂的敌人。六十岁时,希帕蒂娅被埃及主教、后来被封圣的圣西利尔(St. Cyril)麾下的基督教暴徒在大街上绑架,用贝壳凌迟处死,成为第一个为科学献出生命的科学家。希帕蒂娅的死标志了希腊-罗马哲学和科学的式微。欧洲从此堕入中世纪的漫漫长夜。电影Agora讲的就是希帕蒂娅的故事。 Weissmann的社论引用的一段希帕蒂娅的语录说:“Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can he be in after years relieved of them. In fact men will fight for a superstition quite as quickly as for a living truth often more so”。说得何其好! 有空时,读一读科学杂志上科学论文以外的内容是件赏心悦目的事。除增加知识外,读一些老资格编辑的文字,能够帮助英语非母语的人(甚至英语为母语的人)了解英文的修辞和文采,写出更好的英文。 Portrait of Hypatia of Alexandria (c355–415 CE)
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome Photo: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Credits: Michael Marsland/Yale University Credits: Micheline Pelletier/Corbis Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Thomas A. Steitz Ada E. Yonath 1/3 of the prize 1/3 of the prize 1/3 of the prize United Kingdom USA Israel MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge, United Kingdom Yale University New Haven, CT, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot, Israel b. 1952 (in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India) b. 1940 b. 1939 Titles, data and places given above refer to the time of the award. Printer Friendly Comments Questions Tell a Friend The 2009 Prize in: Physics Chemistry Medicine Prev. year The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 Prize Announcement Press Release Scientific Background Information for the Public Speed Read Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Nobel Lecture Interview Other Resources Thomas A. Steitz Nobel Lecture Interview Photo Gallery Other Resources Ada E. Yonath Nobel Lecture Interview Photo Gallery Other Resources See Also 'Imaging Life' - The story of advances in imagi var flashvars = {}; flashvars.CalendarDate = "2009-10-08"; var params = {}; params.quality = "best"; params.wmode = "opaque"; var attributes = {}; swfobject.embedSWF("/images/shortcuts/shortcut_bigblue_followus.swf?rand=818", "banner_zone818", "160", "250", "8.0.24.0", false, flashvars, params, attributes); 美以三位科学家分享2009年诺贝尔化学奖(图) 2009年10月08日 08:02:44 来源: 新华网 【字号 大 中 小 】 【 留言 】 【 打印 】 【 关闭 】 【Email推荐: 】 这是瑞典皇家科学院在斯德哥尔摩举行的新闻发布会上展示3位科学家的照片。 新华社记者吴平摄 图表:美以科学家分享2009年诺贝尔化学奖 新华社发 新华网斯德哥尔摩10月7日电(记者和苗 吴平)瑞典皇家科学院7日宣布,美国科学家文卡特拉曼拉马克里希南、托马斯施泰茨和以色列科学家阿达约纳特3人共同获得今年的诺贝尔化学奖,其中约纳特是自1964年以来首位获得诺贝尔化学奖的女科学家。 瑞典皇家科学院常任秘书贡诺厄奎斯特首先宣读了获奖者名单。他说,拉马克里希南、施泰茨和约纳特因对核糖体结构和功能的研究而获奖,核糖体是进行蛋白质合成的重要细胞器,了解核糖体的工作机制对了解生命具有重要意义。 随后,化学奖评选委员会主席贡纳尔冯海伊内和评委莫恩斯艾伦贝里通过投影仪图片展示,分别详细地介绍了3名获奖者的成就。他们介绍说,生物体每个细胞中都含有脱氧核糖核酸(DNA),基于DNA上携带的信息,核糖体便能合成蛋白质,如血红蛋白、免疫系统的抗体、胰岛素、皮肤中的胶原蛋白等。这些蛋白质在生命中具有不同的形式和功能,它们在化学层面上组成并控制着生命。因此,有关核糖体结构和功能的研究能够被迅速应用到实际中,没有核糖体存在,病菌就无法存活,当今医学上很多抗生素类药物都是通过抑制病菌的核糖体来达到治疗目的的。 他们说,3名获奖者通过独立的研究工作,分别采用X射线蛋白质晶体学方法绘制出3D模型来体现合成核糖体的成千上万个原子的位置,他们绘制的模型已被广泛应用于新抗生素的研制,以减少患者的病痛和拯救生命。 在记者招待会上,厄奎斯特拨通了约纳特的电话向她表示祝贺。约纳特在接受媒体现场电话连线采访时表示,获悉这一消息时她非常高兴,从来没想到自己能获此殊荣。她说,虽然自己的研究成果在生命科学中很重要,但仍有许多未解之谜等待科学家们继续寻找答案。 拉马克里希南1952年出生于印度金奈,施泰茨1940年出生于美国威斯康星州,约纳特1939年出生于耶路撒冷。他们将平分诺贝尔化学奖奖金1000万瑞典克朗(约合140万美元)。 成果解读: 核糖体生命化学工厂中的工程师 生命体就像一个极其复杂而又精密的仪器,不同零件在不同岗位上各司其职,有条不紊。而这一切,就要归功于仿佛扮演着生命化学工厂中工程师角色的核糖体:它翻译出DNA所携带的密码,进而产生不同的蛋白质,分别控制人体内不同的化学过程。 点击详细 诺贝尔化学奖揭晓 时隔多年女性再获殊荣 约纳特的获奖对女科学家,尤其是生化领域的女科学家将是一大鼓励。诺贝尔化学奖自1901年颁发以来,共有156名获奖者,但包括约纳特在内仅有4名女性,她们分别是居里夫人、约里奥-居里和霍奇金。 点击详细 诺贝尔化学奖得主感言: 诺贝尔化学奖得主约纳特:女性能有大作为 诺贝尔化学奖得主施泰茨:能得到重视真令人幸福 拉马克里希南:我太高兴了,今晚将开宴会庆祝 诺贝尔奖得主感言:我们只是一群努力者的代表 背景资料:近年诺贝尔化学奖得主及主要成就
美国斯坦福大学的Sharon R. Long是一名研究豆科植物紫花苜蓿与根瘤菌共生固氮的专家。她是唯一一名当选为奥巴马总统科学顾问团的女科学家。她的当选除了她自身的能力和魅力外,奥巴马总统为了美国的能源和环境而做出的长远考虑也是重要因素。因为通过大力发挥生物固氮作用,可减少化学氮肥的使用,进而减少化学氮肥生产过程中耗费的大量能源及对环境的污染。苜蓿是美国重要的农作物之一,在畜牧业养殖中有牧草之王之称,这种豆科植物只需靠根系的根瘤固氮作用即可满足自身对氮素的需要,而不需要化学氮肥。 她的实验室网址为: http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Sharon_Long/ 或 http://cmgm.stanford.edu/biology/long/ (更详细一些) 下面是关于Sharon R. Long当选为科学顾问的报道: Stanford University plant biologist Sharon R. Long is the only woman on the team of science advisors assembled by Barak Obama in September. Long's lab studies the symbiotic interaction of Rhizobium bacteria and alfalfa roots to form nodules . Root nodules are able to take nitrogen from the air to form ammonia, which is used by plants to synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and other cellular components. This ability allows the plants to grow with less nitrogen fertilizer than required by other crops, making the process of great interest to the agricultural industry. There has, in fact, been some criticism of Obama's choice of Long because of her ties to the agricultural biotech company Monsanto , on whose board of directors she served until last fall. 当选总统科学顾问后,记者对其进行了采访,如下,可以到相关网站上听录音: ( http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=the-day-after-science-in-the-obama-08-11-05 ) Long was interviewed about science under the Obama administration by Steve Mirsky for the Scientific American Science Talk podcast. Listen to the interview . 此次谈话中,她提到了她的研究方向,即豆科植物与根瘤菌之间的分子对话。以下是节录: Steve: You want to talk for just a couple of minutes about your particular expertise? You mentioned that it's in crop research in part and the specifics of what the administration plans to do in those areas? Long: My own area of research is on the symbiosis between beneficial soil bacteria and plants in legume family, and this is familiar to many because it's the basis for crop rotation. Plants such as beans, clover, alfalfawhich is what I studyor soybean are members of a plant family that have the unique ability to host beneficial bacteria in their roots. Now because of the bacteria and because they have the bacteria in their roots, these plants are actually able to flourish using nitrogen that the bacteria convert from a form that's in the air into a molecule that the plants make protein out of. That means that these plants don't need nitrogen fertilizer. This is the reason why, for example, the Native Americans had the practice of planting a little mound with squash, beans and corn. The beans didn't just produce a great seed, they also provided nitrogen nourishment for themselves and for the little mound of plants that were around them. Likewise crop rotation has been used in the ancient world, Mediterranean and in many other cultures throughout the world. That is important because crop rotation of that kind is a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. And my work is very basic. I don't really study the applications in the field, but I do work on the question of how bacteria and plants can recognize each other in a highly specific way and how they can come together in a complex process so that the bacteria are benefiting the plant by providing them with the nitrogen that they need to make lots of protein, and in return, the plant, which can carry out photosynthesis, is able to provide sugars and other energy to the bacteria. So each partner benefits from the exchange. That's my great love in research. Whether that will be addressed in particular in the science plans of the future administration isn't known to me, but it is something that relates to energy, to productivity, to self-sustainability. So I hope that along with all of my colleagues in the United States who study this, I hope we'll all be able to make application and try to make our case for doing good science and create some benefits from that. Steve: Some enlightened self-interest for you then to be involved here. 一个博客上关于Long的介绍: Sharon Long: Recently stepped down as dean of Stanford University's School of Humanities Science to return to her research on the symbiosis of soil bacteria with alfalfa . Long resigned last year from the Board of Directors of Monsanto , an agricultural biotechnology corporation. A former MacArthur Fellow , Long is a member of the leadership council of the National Academy of Sciences. She has contribute d to the campaigns of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (来自: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/obama-campaign.html )