{"id":383,"date":"2020-09-11T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T01:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/?p=383"},"modified":"2020-09-07T13:58:50","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T01:58:50","slug":"young-scientists-adrenaline-fuelled-meditations-on-gene-editing-and-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/young-scientists-adrenaline-fuelled-meditations-on-gene-editing-and-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Scientist\u2019s (adrenaline-fuelled) Meditations on Gene Editing and Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit Mick Whittle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Away from her work in genetics – currently as a \u201cbaby bioinformatician\u201d – Anna Clark likes to meditate. But forget joss sticks and yoga poses; what Anna has in mind is the \u201cadrenaline meditation\u201d of surfing and white-water kayaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more a mindful awareness or definitely a mindful state of consciousness,\u201d<\/em> Anna explains, \u201cforcing you into the present with every stroke, reading the water.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

While this might seem a world away from the biological data interpretation (the \u2018bioinformatics\u2019 bit) that\u2019s been a large part of her Masters\u2019 degree, for Anna there\u2019s a clear link.<\/p>\n

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Photo supplied by Anna Clark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u201cBeing out in the wilderness and experiencing the problems first-hand makes me appreciate why I\u2019m doing this work,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cWhen I am sitting in my office challenged by the fine details of my project, I have to bring myself back to the wider picture.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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And Anna\u2019s \u2018wider picture problems\u2019 are increasingly urgent for New Zealand: the seemingly never-ending threats our native flora and fauna face from invasive pests, such as possums, stoats and rats.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s one of a growing number of young, \u201cpurpose-driven\u201d geneticists who want to use their scientific know-how and enthusiasm for wider community benefit – in her case, through conservation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came into this<\/em> [studying genetics at Otago] with a problem I wanted to solve: pest control.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo supplied by Anna Clark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not that such a science-based ambition would have been obvious when she was growing up; her family were organic farmers wary of modern science, especially genetic modification. It was only when she joined a conservation group at high school and saw the damage done by invasive species, that Anna felt \u201ca switch over<\/em>\u201d in her perspective, along with a growing curiosity about the social resistance to the topic of genetics.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents taught us to be independent thinkers and I wanted to know what was going on here,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cTo understand the science [and ask] where\u2019s the evidence for what works?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

However, she also appreciates \u201cthe emotional drive\u201d behind opposition to genetic technology.<\/p>\n

\n\u201c<\/em>There needs to be more engagement with affected communities who feel like their values are being disregarded,\u201d she reckons.<\/em> \u201cI think it\u2019s very, very important for scientists to have the courage to listen to others and to others\u2019 opinions. We have a social obligation to engage, and to think and talk about our research.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So Anna tries to walk the talk when she\u2019s travelling around New Zealand having \u201coff-the-cuff conversations\u201d about saving our living taonga (treasured) species.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to figure out why people believe what they do,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cIf I introduce the concept of genetics, most are really interested – and some even get frustrated that they haven\u2019t heard of its potential application outside of food and medicine. I think these are vital conversations to be having, particularly for the recruitment of young scientists. Everyone wants to know the \u2018why\u2019 and \u2018how\u2019 your work applies to them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet while she\u2019s happy to spread the word – \u201cYou can\u2019t stop me talking about my research,\u201d<\/em> she laughs – she\u2019s also aware of what she still doesn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cCareer-wise, I\u2019m taking it one step at a time,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cI feel like I haven\u2019t experienced enough to know just yet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So once she finishes up with her COVID-delayed Masters\u2019 (focusing on genetic controls for rodents such as the Ship rat, Rattus rattus<\/em>), a world of further learning opportunities beckons – along with some well-deserved white-water meditation, of course!<\/p>\n

Written by Mick Whittle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Away from her work in genetics – currently as a \u201cbaby bioinformatician\u201d – Anna Clark likes to meditate. But forget joss sticks and yoga poses; what Anna has in mind is the \u201cadrenaline meditation\u201d of surfing and white-water kayaking. \u201cIt\u2019s more a mindful awareness or definitely a mindful state of consciousness,\u201d Anna explains, \u201cforcing you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37560,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37560"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/go\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}