Studying organisms at a molecular level was totally compelling because it was moving from being a naturalist, which was the 19th-century kind of science, to being very focused and really getting to the heart of these molecules.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the shift in scientific focus from broad observations of nature to a detailed understanding of molecular structures.
Elizabeth Blackburn speaks to the evolution of science from a broad, observational approach typical of the 19th century naturalists to a more detailed, focused study of molecular biology. She finds this transition compelling as it allows scientists to delve deeply into the fundamental building blocks of life, uncovering the intricate details that govern biological processes.
In practice
In a lecture on the advancements of molecular biology, one might reference this quote to showcase the significance of scientific evolution.
Cancer cells have had so many other things go wrong with them, genetic, non-genetic changes, that those cells, one of the things they then get selected for is that they have lots of telomerase because now the telomeres in those cells get maintained.
We and other groups are seeing clear statistical links between telomere shortness and risk for a variety of diseases that are becoming very common, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers.
Checking your telomere length is a bit like weighing yourself: you get this single number which depends on a lot of factors. Telomere length gives a sense of your underlying health.
We think there are lifestyle factors that boost telomerase naturally.
For me, arguably the story of telomeres and telomerase began thousands of years ago, in the cornfields of the Maya highlands of Central America.
If we think of our chromosomes - they carry our genetic material - as being like shoelaces, I work on the plastic tips at the end that protect them.
It doesn't matter what country or what political system you are from. Space brings you together.
The atom can't be seen, yet its existence can be proved. And it is simple to prove that it can't ever be seen. It has to be studied by indirect evidence - and the technical difficulty has been compared to asking a man who has never seen a piano to describe a piano from the sound it would make falling downstairs in the dark.
I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in financial history.
As Darwin himself was at pains to point out, natural selection is all about differential survival within species, not between them.
The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
When Rush Limbaugh says I'm not a scientist, I'm charmed - I smirk.
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