The Member Magazine of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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Vol. 14 / No. 3 / March 2015 THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY CONTENTS NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES 2 14 50 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE GIVING PARASITES THEIR DUE COORDINATES Conscience of commitment Chasing the North American Dream 20 4 STEAM 52 NEWS FROM THE HILL When our DNA is fair game CAREER INSIGHTS Gene-editing summit A Q&A with Clemencia Rojas 22 5 ANNUAL MEETING POINTERS 14 MEMBER UPDATE 32 8 ANNUAL AWARDS RETROSPECTIVE Marion Sewer (1972 – 2016) 22 10 JOURNAL NEWS 10 Turning on the thyroid 20 11 Using microRNAs to target cancer cells 12 A mouse model for Hajdu–Cheney syndrome 13 One gene, two proteins, one complex 8 32 50 2016 10 Annual Aards MARCH 2016 ASBMB TODAY 1 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Conscience OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS Steven McKnight Squire J. Booker of commitment President Karen G. Fleming Gregory Gatto Jr. Natalie Ahn Rachel Green By Steven McKnight President-Elect Susan Marqusee Karen Allen Jared Rutter Secretary Brenda Schulman Michael Summers very four years, my institution work with the American Society for Toni Antalis Treasurer requires that I take a course Biochemistry and Molecular Biol- ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD E and exam regarding conicts ogy, I can help organize and attend EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Charles Brenner of interest. Past courses have focused meetings, I can give lectures at other Squire Booker Chair primarily on nancial conicts of institutions, I can help found biotech- Wei Yang Michael Bradley Co-chairs, 2016 Annual Floyd “Ski” Chilton interest, but the course and test I took nology companies, and on and on — Meeting Program Cristy Gelling this past month had a new category so long as the activities have legitimate Committee Peter J. Kennelly on conicts of commitment. e gist relationships to my job as a scientist. Peter J. Kennelly Rajini Rao of things was simple and reasonable: On the home front, my job respon- Chair, Education and Yolanda Sanchez Professional Development Shiladitya Sengupta If I agree to spend a percentage of my sibilities as an employee of UTSWMC Committee Carol Shoulders time on any endeavor or project, it is are varied. For the past two decades, I Daniel Raben imperative that I do so. have been chairman of our biochem- Chair, Meetings Committee ASBMB TODAY My school, the University of Texas istry department, which takes 20 to Angela Hopp Takita Felder Sumter Executive Editor, Southwestern Medical Center at Dal- 30 percent of my time. I also need Chair, Minority Aairs [email protected] Committee las, allows me to spend 20 percent of to perform as a teacher and mentor Lauren Dockett my time on outside activities. Using to my trainees and the young faculty omas Baldwin Managing Editor, Chair, Outreach Committee [email protected] this time, I can engage in any of a members within our department. Wes Sundquist Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay number of activities relating to my Finally, I need to write grant applica- Chair, Public Aairs Chief Science Correspondent, role as a scientist. I can go to speak tions to secure external funding for Advisory Committee [email protected] at high school science fairs, I can my research and manuscripts account- Blake Hill Valery Masterson Chair, Publications Designer, Committee [email protected] Ciarán Finn Correction F. Peter Guengerich Web Editor, Interim editor-in-chief, JBC [email protected] In a feature story on the Human Placenta Project in ASBMB Today’s Herbert Tabor Allison Frick February issue, a researcher photographed working with a placenta was Co-editor, JBC Media Specialist, [email protected] incorrectly identied as David Weinberg. A. L. Burlingame Editor, MCP Barbara Gordon Executive Director, Edward A. Dennis [email protected] William L. Smith Co-editors, JLR Upcoming ASBMB events and deadlines Mar. 15: Accreditation deadline For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or [email protected]. MAR.APR. Apr. 2 – 6: ASBMB annual meeting Apr. 28: ASBMB Hill Day, Washington, D.C. www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 Articles published in ASBMB Today reect solely the authors’ views and not the ocial positions of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or the institutions with which the authors are aliated. Mentions of products or services are not endorsements. ©2015 ASBMB 2 ASBMB TODAY MARCH 2016 ing for the science that we perform in I strongly doubt that I could function United States, starting around 50 years my lab. as an eective mentor if my time with ago? Back then we were dierent from Among these varied activities, I trainees were cut so drastically. the then-dominant scientic structures am able to spend about half of my What amount of time do I owe to of other countries. Instead of having time directly running my laboratory. my trainees? Does this weigh on my large, hierarchical laboratories directed If I count a 40-hour work week and conscience? Does anyone even look at by distinguished professors, the devote eight hours (20 percent) to this? I can assure you that this issue is United States sprinkled grant funding outside activities, this leaves me 16 not addressed in the classes on conict liberally to much younger scientists hours to run my lab. It is these 16 of interest that I am periodically asked running small laboratories. Our style hours where the rubber meets the to take at my home institution. When let young people drive the car from road with respect to my duties as a I apply for a National Institutes of the very get-go of their independent mentor to the postdoctoral fellows and Health grant, does anyone care how careers. Young scientists did not have graduate students working under my much time I spend mentoring my to pay decades of dues to run their direction. trainees? ese are complicated and own science, waiting as lieutenants On average, over the past two thorny questions. I have thought until they might assume the top role decades, I’ve directed a lab composed about them a lot but never in the of professor. of around ve or six trainees. e context of a conict-of-interest per- ough I have no data to bolster formula I’ve run with equates to being spective. this thesis, I think funding a diverse able to devote around two to three As pointed out above, there is no distribution of young, independent hours per week per trainee. Many question that dierent scientists are scientists was incredibly healthy — people run successful laboratories with more or less ecient with respect to and a big reason why American sci- upwards of double or even quadruple managerial talent. Large laboratories ence has been so successful. I likewise this number of trainees. I’ve found my can operate eectively via a lieuten- do not know how things have evolved. sweet spot; others can function eec- ant system, wherein trainees are not I oer the caution, however, that — as tively with larger laboratory groups. directly mentored by the principal we have enjoyed our own dominance If my three hours a week per investigator of the lab but instead of late — we may have reverted to the trainee were cut to an hour, owing to by intermediaries. Likewise, ineec- hierarchal, professorial system that a larger lab group, I believe I could tive mentors may fail even if aorded we displaced decades ago. Might it be handle this — but not optimally, at unlimited time for trainee interac- proper to begin to pay some level of least for me. Other scientists are more tions. It is clear that strict formulas attention to this question of con- skilled and ecient managers, so I can for mentor-to-trainee balance would science of commitment? understand lab groups consisting of be a terrible idea. On the other hand, even 15 to 20 trainees. What would is it proper that little or no attention Steven McKnight (steven. [email protected]) happen, however, were I to have 50 is paid to the obligation of a scientist is president of the American trainees instead of ve? Instead of to spend an adequate amount of time Society for Biochemistry and getting three hours of mentoring per mentoring his or her trainees? Molecular Biology and chairman week, each trainee would be getting To what can we attribute the suc- of the biochemistry department at the University only 20 minutes per week on average. cess of the biomedical enterprise in the of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. MARCH 2016 ASBMB TODAY 3 NEWS FROM THE HILL Gene-editing summit By Sarah K. Martin ene-editing technology vaulted the three-day summit, the event’s about the appropriateness of the into the public consciousness organizers addressed human gene proposed application.” e commit- G with Science magazine naming editing in three separate categories: tee stopped short of issuing a ban on the CRISPR–Cas gene-editing tool its basic research, somatic clinical use and germline gene editing but reiterated 2015 Breakthrough of the Year. germline clinical use. that human gene-edited cells should CRISPR–Cas is a programmable ey called for exhaustive basic not be used to establish a pregnancy nuclease-enzyme system that allows research on gene editing in human until extensive basic research is done. scientists to edit specic sequences cells to determine potential benets e committee also called for an of DNA, potentially resulting in and risks of clinical use. ey said ongoing discussion of human gene profound changes to an organism. that such research will enhance our editing so that more nations and Importantly, the CRISPR–Cas tech- fundamental scientic understanding diverse stakeholders can participate in nology is specic, accurate and easily of the biology of human embryos and the conversation.