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.
Yes, I am the last man to have walked on the moon, and that's a very dubious and disappointing honor. It's been far too long.
The problem with data is that it says a lot, but it also says nothing. 'Big data' is terrific, but it's usually thin. To understand why something is happening, we have to engage in both forensics and guess work.
Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don't look alike are really the same. That is one of their innermost Freudian motivations. In fact, that is what we mean by understanding.
We have to have a combination of general relativity that describes the warping of space and time, and quantum physics, which describes the uncertainties in that warping and how they change.
To promote the healing response, you must get past all the grosser levels of the body - cells, tissues, organs and systems -- and arrive at a junction point between mind and matter, the point where consciousness actually starts to have an effect.
I think that the discovery of antimatter was perhaps the biggest jump of all the big jumps in physics in our century.
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