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Education Plus
Sincerity of purpose
SARAH HIDDLESTON
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Venkat Gopalan, Professor of Biochemistry at Ohio State University, U.S., speaks to EducationPlus.
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It is not about the latest technology, the hottest topics, or being first. Being a molecular biologist, chemist or scientist is about sincerity of purpose, critical enquiry, integrity and openness.This may sound philosophical, but, unless you’re happy being a “me too” scientist, these faculties are critical for the advance of the discipline, peer recognition and prize-winning innovation.
So says Venkat Gopalan, Professor of Biochemistry at Ohio State University, USA. Dr. Gopalan is an expert in RNaseP, the enzyme that activates the transfer of our genetic code into physical reality in our bodies. Having started his scientific enquiries here at Vivekananda College, he is now in the enviable position of running his own laboratory.
Dr. Gopalan was influenced at three major points in his career: The tutorship of Vangalur S. Srinivasan at Vivekananda College, his first job under Nobel Laureate Sidney Altman at Yale University and a stint at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. This is what he has to say:
“Science is a collective enterprise.” Attending seminars, talking to colleagues and reading literature alerts you to advances that could help you.
“Imagination is the cornerstone of innovative research. That comes from integrating research from many people,” he says, adding that scientists are forever students.
“Scientists are nothing but problem solvers.” Don’t complain about roadblocks, think of ways to get around them — your advisor will be much more likely to help.
Value criticism “Peer review stings… You have to let your ego go… If you believe the reviewer is wrong your job is to go and prove it. Science is truth and truth always wins.
If the reviewer is right, somebody will find out. If you are right, you will find out,” he says. If you publish incorrectly you may waste resources of teams who try to build on that research and that slows science down.
Stick with your bench even though you may take on administrative positions. “Be Fred Sanger,” he enthuses, the two-time winner of science Nobels, who said he was “just a chap who messes around in the lab.”
It reinvigorates, keeps you in touch with your lab workers and ultimately brings results, Dr. Gopalan stresses.
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