Scientiae Carnival And Platypus Revealed!

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Just a few quick linky-poos - first, I will be taking part in this great challenge:

My “challenge”, for those sciencebloggers who choose to accept it, is this: read and research an old, classic scientific paper and write a blog post about it. I recommend choosing something pre- World War II, as that was the era of hand-crafted, “in your basement”-style science. There’s a lot to learn not only about the ingenuity of researchers in an era when materials were not readily available, but also about the problems and concerns of scientists of that era, often things we take for granted now!

The platypus - indeed revealed!

The genome of the Platypus has been sequenced:

The first analysis of the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus was published today by an international team of scientists, revealing clues about how genomes were organized during the early evolution of mammals. The research was supported in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This nearly makes me cheerful in the face of Western Australia’s decision to veto stem-cell research:

Health Minister and Attorney-General Jim McGinty said the defeat of the therapeutic cloning laws was a bitter blow for people with life-threatening conditions who were desperate for research into tissue regeneration, and it signalled a worrying trend.

…Mr McGinty admitted five government MPs also voted in the conscience vote against the therapeutic cloning bill based on religious or ethical beliefs, but he said many MPs had less acceptable motives.

He said the bill offered the potential to find cures or provide real improvements for conditions including spinal cord injury, dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and many cancers.

His stance was supported by Peter Klinken from the WA Institute for Medical Research, who said it was very disappointing. “We need to explore all options in terms of regenerative medicine,” he said.

Mr McGinty said the bill could not be reintroduced in the current parliament and was now dead until after an election.

*Sigh*… yes, bring on the next election…

And don’t forget Scientiae carnival goodness! Some brilliant items here, will keep me reading all day - enjoy! Gah, my entry was indeed off-topic, but still about my current work - ’How do our career goals change over time?’ It is fascinating to see just how many women echo my own experiences. Just a few that captured my attention included:

Kim at Shear Sensibility (great name for a Geology blog!), who echoes the enthusiasm I have found in writing: “But I can’t do it by simply sitting down and writing an impersonal article. I need to be driven by the sense of wonder, as well.”

Hannah of Young Stellar Objects who writes of the important challenge of networking that come with the career in her post “Changing with the times”; something that I learned through school politics and the example of my co-workers and even parents of my students, which still remain to me today. Oh, and Sciencewoman’s “It’s not exactly what I planned, but I really think it’s where I was meant to be“… which was something I thought this morning as I walked past my former workplace - and was beeped at by my former boss heading into my former office! I’ll have to get in touch with her today!

Oh, and I love the way Flicka Mawa rounded it all up:

Luckily, there are still many brave women scientists for whom the current state of the system is workable, and for many, their love of science may get them through. Hopefully, all of us will do what we can to help effect some change, from outside the academic science world and from within it, so that those who truly do want an academic science career won’t be hindered by many of the biases we still face today.

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Tags: Australia, blog, career, gender, genome, medical research, platypus, Politics, research, Science, science blogs, stem cells, Western Australia, women