Representation matters. Case in point: this week’s WiSE Wednesday honoree Dr. Patricia Bath, whose work both inside and outside the operating room saved the sight of many. Born in Harlem, New York in 1942, Bath showed an early aptitude for science, which her parents encouraged. She received a medical degree from Howard University and...
Did you see Saturday’s Google Doodle and wonder what it was all about? The image, with “Google” spelled out in organic chemical line drawings, honored the 100th birthday of this week’s WiSE Wednesday honoree, the late Dr. Asima Chatterjee, an Indian chemist who developed drugs to treat epilepsy and malaria based on chemicals from...
Evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis transformed the way we think about the origins of life. Eukaryotic (plant, animal, and fungal) cells contain membrane-bound “organelles” that are not present in bacterial cells. In her groundbreaking endosymbiotic theory of organogenesis, Margulis proposed a mechanism by which these organelles, including mitochondria (cellular “powerhouses”) and chloroplasts (plants’ photosynthetic factories),...
Many researchers talk about “living and breathing” science – this metaphor is particularly apt for this week’s WiSE Wednesday honoree, Mary Amdur (1921-1998), who pioneered research on air pollution’s harmful effects on the lungs. In studying the chemical nature of smog, Amdur discovered that sulfur dioxide could react with particles released from industrial plants...
When the AIDS crisis struck, some tried to isolate themselves or ignore the problem – not this week’s WiSE Wednesday honoree! French virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi co-discovered the cause of AIDS, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Before the cause of AIDS was known, homosexual men and other populations hit hard by AIDS faced strong discrimination and...
