All posts by erin

Communicating Uncertainty: The Issue of BPA

Public Perceptions, Science Policy,

The New York Times article by Denise Grady, “In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer” brings up some interesting issues not only on BPA plastic itself, but also on communicating science and how “experts” can become mistrusted when, to the public, the “facts” seem to constantly change.

Bisphenol-A, more commonly called BPA, is a chemical found in some plastics. For over a decade researchers have had inconclusive findings with regard to whether or not it is safe to be exposed to BPA (or in what quantities, in what forms, etc.) yet, most people are constantly exposed to it from plastic bottles, and other products. BPA is a public health concern because the chemical has been shown in studies on lab animals to mimic estrogen, which makes the chemical an endocrine disruptor.
Whether or not exposure to BPA causes harm to humans is still up for debate, and has become a hot topic for researchers, activists, parents, and politicians. Grady’s article does a good job explaining how it is possible for researchers to come up with different results from identical studies (causing all the confusion) but still be good scientists. Research at its core is based on searching for answers, sometimes the answers are elusive, but that doesn’t make the researchers inept. Even in the face of public outcry and demands for answers that won’t seem to come.
I like Grady’s article because I think she does a really good job going through the history of the BPA issue, showing what findings are new and relevant, and explaining the holdups and problems that have caused different research findings. Overall, I think the article is a good example of science journalism, and how to strip down an issue to simplify it, while building it up at the same time to give the audience all of the information they need to understand the topic.

UK Hunt for Invasive Snail

Environment, New Research,

I’ve posted before about invasive species, but this article from the BBC just caught my eye. The UK’s National Trust Nature Conservation recently found out that their own grounds are home to a rare species of snail, native to the Mediterranean.

According to the Nature Conservation, the snails most likely arrived on their grounds more than 100 years ago on stones imported from Italy and Greece. Since then the snails have only populated a small area, but the Nature Conservation is conducting a search to see if the snails have populated anywhere else. They are asking the public to be on the look out for the snail.

One quote from the article actually makes it sound as if finding the snails outside of their natural territory is a good thing: “The Victorians and Edwardians loved importing statues, rock, and brickwork from the Mediterranean,” says Mr. Oates. “The shipping over of this ‘bling’ in large quantities suggests that we could find new species, such as this lovely little snail, in surprising places.”

It doesn’t seem as if the snail has any negative impact on the environment in terms of disturbing the food chain or causing any other disruptions, but I still find it strange that finding the invasive species seems to be more of an oddity than a concern. I also find it strange that it took over 100 years for anyone to notice the snail where it wasn’t supposed to be. 

J. Craig Venter: Portrait of a Businessman

Genetics,

The New York Times’ Andrew Pollack just published an interesting article on J. Craig Venter, the scientists and businessman who became a household name (at least around geneticists’ dinner tables) by competing with Francis Collin’s federally funded team to complete the Human Genome Project.

Venter’s company Synthetic Genomics created a sensation in May when they announced the creation of the first synthetic organism. I covered the finding for BioTechniques: Venter Creates First Synthetic Life. Recently Venter has focused on his efforts to use algae as a biofuel. Despite receiving funding from companies like Exxon Mobil and BP, Venter’s algae efforts have generated far less of a media frenzy.

The article takes a look at why Venter’s more industrial aims haven’t generated the kind of success that his research and science based work has. It also gives some interesting insight into Venter himself.

Because the Gulf Hasn’t Had Enough Already…

Environment

More problems in the gulf of mexico as another oil platform caught fire. The platform (Vermilion Oil Rig 380) belongs to Mariner Energy. The company released a statement saying that all 13 of the people that were forced overboard due to the fire have been rescued, and that the fire was not started by an explosion. The exact cause is still under investigation, but it did start at one of the platform’s active wells.

The Mariner Energy rig is located in the gulf of mexico about 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana. If you’ve been watching the news at all in the past few months, then you know that Louisiana and the whole gulf region have been dealing with the explosion and oil spill that occurred from the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded April 20th and was finally stopped on July 15th. Owned by BP, the Deepwater Horizon spill is the largest ever recorded in the petroleum industry, spilling an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the gulf. According to Mariner Energy, no oil is leaking from their well that started the fire on the Vermilion Oil Rig 380.

My 19th First Day of School

Grad School

Counting Preschool, Kindergarten, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Undergrad, and now Grad School, today marked my 19th first day of school. I always love the first day of school, I find it exciting and for the most part teachers and professors are in a pretty good mood because they haven’t yet had to deal with students or grade papers.

I had two of my four classes today. The first, literary aspects of journalism – taught by Deborah Blum (a working journalist and science writer whose latest book is The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Science in Jazz Age New York). The course is going to explore journalism as an art form, with an emphasis on story telling. I’m really excited about it, because while I’m pretty confident in my ability to write short news, I’d really like to develop my skill at writing feature stories.

We’re going to be reading a lot in Blum’s class but two books that I’m particularly excited to read are Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (I’ve fallen asleep during the movie starring Johnny Depp at least four times, but I am hopeful that the book will do far more for me), and Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. UW-Madison’s Go Big Read initiative is featuring Skloot’s book so she’s going to be coming to campus this semester to give a large lecture at the Kohl Center, and a smaller lecture at the Journalism School. I’m excited about this book because my last article for BioTechniques before ending my internship was on cell line contamination, and was picked up by Skloot on her Twitter page. It was thrilling, so I am really looking forward to hearing another science writer, especially one so successful, speak.

The other class I had today was International Communication with Jo Ellen Fair. The class is focused on “Celebrity Culture, the Media, and International Humanitarian Interventions.” I think focusing on the role celebrities play in generating interest about humanitarian issue will be a really interesting way to look at international reporting.

So far it looks like this is going to be a great semester, I really liked being back in class and I felt comfortable being back in the college atmosphere. I have one class tomorrow that is just a lecture with no work attached to it and then the three day weekend before seriously starting course work next week, I’m pretty excited about it.