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Tips for a successful Career Development Symposia proposal
During my many interactions with grad students and postdocs, I have learned that a large number of early career scientists train on campuses where important career development services are not widely available. While some schools may provide a diverse array of such services, at many other institutions the only opportunity to enhance early career training…
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Brooke LaFlamme, Chief Editor of Communications Biology, wants you to know that editors are not the enemy
Brooke LaFlamme found her career in scientific publishing through informational interviews. She recommends trainees interested in science communication fields start writing early and often. In the Decoding Life series, we talk to geneticists with diverse career paths, tracing the many directions possible after research training. This series is brought to you by the GSA Early…
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Sperm and eggs don’t always join at random
Choosing a mate is hardly random. During courtship in the diploid phase of our life cycle, we often employ elaborate rituals and biological signals to attract and assess potential mates. But after that, we usually assume that eggs and sperm choose each other randomly at fertilization. Or so says Mendel’s First Law. But sometimes, Joseph…
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Pesticide 2.0: Spray-on gene silencers
Guest post contributed by members of the GSA Early Career Scientist Communications and Outreach Subcommittee. In their bitter war with crop pests, farmers have two big guns: chemical pesticides and genetic engineering. But excitement has been building in the farming community for a new weapon that is unlike anything they’ve tried before, a pesticide 2.0.…
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Yaihara Fortis Santiago on addressing the diverse needs of early career scientists
Yaihara Fortis Santiago, Manager of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses her journey from Puerto Rico to discovering a fulfilling career helping early career scientists advance their scientific training and helping them foster cross-institutional relationships. In the Decoding Life series, we talk to geneticists with diverse career paths, tracing the many…
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Beyond the #GradTax: more tax proposals that threaten the scientific community
Guest post by the GSA Early Career Scientist Policy Subcommittee Scientific progress is at risk from proposed changes to the US tax code. These changes, proposed by both the House and Senate, threaten to constrict the supply of research labor and funding, the impact of which will be felt for generations. The scientific community has…
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Circulomes vary based on cell type
In the 1980s, scientists first noticed circles of DNA interspersed among the normally linear chromosomes of eukaryotic nuclei. Little is known about these molecules, which are called extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA). Variation in eccDNA appears to be biologically significant; development of an organism often comes with increased numbers of eccDNA, for example, and certain types…
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How Boston postdocs created the career symposium they needed
GSA is currently accepting proposals from students and postdocs for the next round of Career Development Symposia. Gain leadership experience and serve the early career scientist community! Many postdocs feel powerless. But early career researchers can work together to take control of their future, says Sarah Dykstra, a postdoc at Tufts University and co-organizer of…
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Benign yeast turn into filamentous pathogens in different ways
The yeast Candida albicans lives on and even inside many of us. Most of the time, its silent presence goes unnoticed, but this fungus can turn on its host, causing infections ranging in severity from annoying to life-threatening. For the yeast to become pathogenic, some of the C. albicans must transform from small, round cells…
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Grad students save lives
On a spring day in 2006, I woke up from surgery to learn that I had an aggressive type of breast cancer that would require chemotherapy. I had been told I had a relatively benign diagnosis that was supposed to be cured by a mastectomy. It was devastating to realize that the surgery was not…
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Random Factors: An Interview with 2017 Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal Recipient Richard C. Lewontin
The Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal is awarded to an individual member of the Genetics Society of America for lifetime achievement in the field of genetics. It recognizes the full body of work of an exceptional geneticist. The 2017 recipient is Richard C. Lewontin, whose contributions and influence have profoundly shaped the field of evolutionary genetics.…