Question

Select one area of biological science and one female scientist involved in this area of science. Take a few moments to reflect on the popularity of this subject in the last 50 years.

What does the female scientist you selected have to say about females in this area of science and does she make a good role model for young women today entering into science.

Does this subject relate more to males or females? How has it changed in the last 50 years?

Answer 1

One area of biological science consdered here is biochemistry.

Biochemistry as its name suggests is the combination of chemistry(chemical and physico-chemical processes) and life sciences(living organisms). Thus it is the study of chemical processes of living organisms.

One female scientist involved in this area of science is Professor Elizabeth Blackburn,an Australian-American biochemist at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies the telomere and co-discovered telomerase. She was also awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In the last few years, the subject has gained popularity by the following inventions :

1. Discovery of antibiotics

2. Invention of vaccination against various deadly diseases

3. Discovery of the structure of DNA and RNA and the central dogma of life

4. Discovery of different types of enzymes and their specific actions

5. Analysis of metabolism reactions in the body of living organisms

6. Recombinant DNA technology for managing health conditions

7. Polymerase Chain Reaction- an indispensable technique for carrying out genomic research

8. Identification of different types of unicellular organisms like viruses especially one for HIV/AIDS

9. Development of stem cells and their wide applications

10. Human genome decoding