Women in Science

Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) often don't get the recognition they deserve. To help rectify this situation, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL)'s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) group helps shine light on contemporary and historical women in STEM through weekly "WiSE Wednesday." I was Social Media Chair for WiSE for several years and one of the best parts was getting to write these pieces, which were originally published on WiSE's website. Although I'm not in that role anymore, I continue to share the stories of female scientists on my blog.

Agnes Kalibata

Feb 13 Brianna Bibel

<p>Agnes Matilda Kalibata is a Rwandan agricultural scientist and policymaker credited with helping lead an agricultural <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>transformation<span class="dashicons " data-icon="" style="color:#000;display:inline;vertical-align:baseline;"></span></div><div class=glossaryItemBody>when you stick foreign (exogenous) genetic information (like DNA) into a cell. Typically used to refer to sticking DNA into bacteria - when we do the same put DNA into eukaryotic cells (cells with membrane-bound "rooms” like nuclei inside) - things like animal cells) we call it transfection so it doesn’t get confused with tumor transformation (just gets confused with why its called something different…). Often the DNA we put into bacteria is in the form of a plasmid (a circular piece of "extragenomic" DNA - the bacteria can host it separately from the bacterial DNA). These plasmids can contain instructions for making proteins we want. 🙂 A couple common ways to transform bacteria are electroporation (where you use electricity) and heat shock/chemically competent cells. <br/><figure class="wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-2 is-cropped"><figure></figure><br/><figure></figure><br/><br/></figure><br/></div>" href="https://thebumblingbiochemist.com/glossary/transformation/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]'>transformation</a> in Rwanda as […]</p>

Marjory Stephenson

Aug 01 Brianna Bibel

<p>Marjory Stephenson (1885-1948). Much of what we know about metabolism (the buildup, breakdown, and recycling of biological <a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>molecule<span class="dashicons " data-icon="" style="color:#000;display:inline;vertical-align:baseline;"></span></div><div class=glossaryItemBody>a group of atoms held together with <strong><em>covalent bonds</em></strong> (strong bonds that involve electron sharing). Molecules can be small (like water or carbon dioxide which only involve a few atoms) or large (like proteins with thousands of atoms). They don't break apart into their component atoms easily (so for example, they don't break apart when you dissolve them although the copies of the molecule might unstick from one another). <br/><figure class="wp-block-gallery columns-0 is-cropped"><br/></figure></div>" href="https://thebumblingbiochemist.com/glossary/molecule/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]'>molecules</a>) was first […]</p>

Louise Chow

Mar 21 Brianna Bibel

<p>You might have heard about the molecular imaging technique cryo-<a class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>electron<span class="dashicons " data-icon="" style="color:#000;display:inline;vertical-align:baseline;"></span></div><div class=glossaryItemBody><div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><figcaption>redox</figcaption></figure></div>A negatively-charged subatomic particle. One of 3 main subatomic particles (parts of an atom). Electrons are negatively-charged and they hang out in an "electron cloud" around the dense central nucleus where the protons and neutrons live. Electrons move around a lot so you never know exactly where one will be, but there are places where you're more likely to find them and these places are often depicted in shells or more accurately in "orbitals." The outermost electrons (furthest from the attractive pull of the positively-charged nucleus) are called valence electrons and they are the most energetic. Atoms can lose valence electrons to form cations (positively-charged particles) or share valence electrons to form strong bonds called covalent bonds. <br/></div>" href="https://thebumblingbiochemist.com/glossary/electron/" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]'>electron</a> microscopy (cryo-EM) because of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. […]</p>

WiSE Wednesdays