Biologists From The United States

"From the tiniest single-celled organisms to complex microbial communities, microbes hold immense scientific value and hold the secrets to the origins of life."

"From the most remote landscapes to the depths of the ocean, microbes are everywhere."

"Microbes don't just cause diseases, they also play critical roles in the health of our planet."

"Microbes are the unsung heroes of life on Earth."

"Microbes hold the key to solving many of our pressing global challenges, from disease eradication to sustainable agriculture."

"Through the study of microbes, we can unlock the secrets of life itself."

"Microbes are the ultimate survivors, capable of thriving in some of the most extreme environments on Earth."

"A result of the scale of these new experiments is the emergence of very large data sets in biology whose interpretation demands the application of state-of-the-art computer science methods."

"The low cost and high throughput (the ability to process large volumes of material) of genome sequencing allowed for a more "big-data" approach to biology, so that experiments that previously could only be applied to individual genes could suddenly be applied in parallel to all of the genes in the genome."

"Computational biology is the art of developing and applying computational methods to answer questions in biology, such as studying how proteins fold, identifying genes that are associated with diseases, or inferring human population histories from genetic data."

"I have interests in both the development of computational methods and in answering specific biology questions, primarily related to the function of RNA, a molecule central to the function of cells."

"While genome sequencing has obviously been useful in revealing the sequences that are involved in coding various aspects of the molecular biology of the cell, it has had a secondary impact that is less obvious at first glance."

"The problems require interdisciplinary dexterity and involve not only management of large data sets but also the development of novel abstract frameworks for understanding their structure."

"When I talk about substructure to Muslims who have read the Quran, I try to relate it to one of the passages that essentially says (with “we” meaning “God”), “We have created you into nations and tribes so that you’ll get to know each other, not so you’ll despise each other, and the best among you is the best with God consciousness.” It fits into the scientific rationale for my work, and there’s an immediate link. That’s what we in the science community have to build with nonscientists; you have to build these links so that they will embrace the science and use it appropriately."

"Unfortunately, we as scientists have not done a good job at explaining what evolution is and decoupling it from atheism—it’s really not about religion at all, it’s about the natural world."

"It is possible to convey the fundamental aspects of all the science that we do in a cultural context that’s relevant for the people. That’s probably the most important thing that we do in science—to make it real and important for the people that we’re speaking to."

"A very important aspect of being human is to have faith and to have belief, but the science is absolutely essential for our wellbeing as a species, so we should be able to reconcile the two."

"Any population that has been abused is going to have some issues, and you have to address those issues head-on. Establish rapport, build the trust, and then maintain it, because it can relapse into feelings of oppression very easily."

"Be true to yourself, don’t compromise yourself, ask a lot of questions... that’s literally our job!."

"So that's the beautiful thing about astrobiology. [Proving the existence of life] is like the ultimate episode of CSI. You're putting together the biggest forensic case of your life to prove who the killer is, and you’ve got to be able to go to the jury and prove beyond reasonable doubt that you know who's done it."

"Science is systematic organisation of knowledge about the universe on the basis of explanatory hypotheses which are genuinely testable. Science advances by developing gradually more comprehensive theories; that is, by formulating theories of greater generality which can account for observational statements and hypotheses which appear as prima facie unrelated."

"Jellyfish as a group holds some astonishing records. The world's most venomous animal is a jellyfish, the Australian Deadly Box jelly-fish (', page 50). The largest invertebrate discovered in the twentieth century is a jellyfish, the so-called Black Sea Nettle (', page 114)—thought it is practically a toy compared to the lion's mane jellies of the North Atlanta (' spp., page 52), which can reach three meters (ten feet) across the body and drag tentacles nearly 30 meters (100 feet) long. One jellyfish helped scientists win the Nobel Prize (page 198). Another grows ten percent of its body length per hour (page 208). And the world's first known case of true biological immortality was discovered in the diminutive and aptly named Immortal Jellyfish (', page 74)."

"s are nothing new. In fact, fossil evidence shows us that jellyfish have been blooming for hundreds of millions of years. Around the turn of the nineteenth century, it became fashionable for naturalists to report all sorts of odd and unusual events from the natural world. The early issues of the and others like it are full of such interesting tidbits. One such report described ' as so abundant in , Germany, that an oar pushed down between the jellyfish remained standing upright ( 1880). Today, just about any bay or harbor has Aurelia shoals so dense that one may wonder whether there is actually enough water between each jellyfish for it to obtain enough oxygen to survive."

"Imagine one of Australia’s foremost jellyfish specialists, a robust scientist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of jellyfish taxonomy and a deep understanding of their place in the . Now make them enthusiastic, unashamedly and female. This is Lisa-Ann Gershwin. Dr Gershwin this year was named one of The Science Show's Top 100 Australian Scientists, along with greats such as Sir FRS, Sir FRS, and Professor FRS. Her road to science has not been a smooth one though. ... Lisa-Ann describes her neurodivergence as central to her science and who she is. While it has been a source of joy as she has been able to immerse herself in the details of jellyfish taxonomy and ecology, it has also come with difficulties."

". The word may seem an unlikely start for a book meant to explain the . Yet, over time, we have learned that nearly everyone who was infected with survived—roughly 99% (or more). Not only did the vast majority survive, but many—if not half of those infected—had such mild infections that they never knew they had the virus. They were asymptomatic."

"Quantitative reasoning alone is critical but not sufficient. If it were, then the paradigm of mathematics and physics classes would seem to be a viable path forward for a parallel pedagogical track in the . That is to say, take a set of established equations, analyze them, explore the logical consequences of the relationships, and use their solutions as a proxy for the behavior of the natural world. However, unlike the constitutive equations of physics, a mathematical set of equations that describes a living system is not necessarily a hallowed object—not yet, at least. Models of living systems should not be put on pedestals nor conflated as substitutes for measurement. Models, mechanisms, and their predictions must engage with evidence taken from living systems in an iterative fashion—with far greater frequency than in certain branches of physics."

"We have to follow the . The data doesn't follow our narrative."

"Uncharacteristically for biology, s were very much part of the formative studies of that were designed and executed by luminaries such as , , and . Of these, Delbrück was a physicist, and papers from the early days of phage biology (certainly those with his name attached) reveal quantitative thinking that helped build intuition regarding the dynamics that could be seen at scales far larger than those at which the actual events were unfolding. These early studies provided the foundation for subsequent diversification of the study of phage: the basic concepts of what happens subsequent to infection, experimental protocols for inferring quantitative rates from time-series data, and methods for interpreting and disentangling alternative possibilities underlying the as-yet-unseen actions taking place at micro- and nanoscale (Delbrück 1946; Lwoff 1953)."

"Those who are deeply religious may look at evolution not as a challenge, but as a true demonstration of the power of the Creator's ingenuity. The vastness and implications of evolution cannot simplify the sense of admiration for a creator who was able to set such a mechanism in motion. Perhaps the Great Architect of the Universe didn't bother to write every single DNA base and acid in the human genome, but that doesn't detract from his incredible intelligence."

"...I still remember those girls and who didn't love math, uh, the way I did. And I mean, oh my gosh, think what they were missing. I know I always felt, you know, solving math problems was a little bit like eating candy. There was something about it. It was so rewarding. It was just such a pleasure to do it. And I thought, oh, once they see this, they're going to enjoy it too."

"Building a scientific edifice is a bit like building a cathedral, stone by stone. Shaping each stone—each single study—is hard work but immensely satisfying, especially knowing that it will be durable. (P. 38)"

"...And it was so ridiculous. And this was this thing about this teaching of a class and I've been told that I couldn't teach undergraduates because MIT students didn't believe scientific information spoken by a woman. And so I'd said, well, of course, everyone knows that. I had accepted it as normal because as soon as somebody said it, I realized, of course, it's true. I was able to see that women were so under-respected that students couldn't respect them enough. And so they were afraid to put an important course into the hands of a woman for fear the students would not be able to respect them."

"...[A] new breed of philosopher was coming close to declaring that nothing in philosophy makes sense except in the light of evolution. (P. 26)"

"Around this world and to this very day, among experts and novices alike, say the word “evolution” and most people hear the word “genes.” (P. 19)"

"Science is often associated with complicated instruments and questions so specialized that a PhD is required even to become interested. (P. 31)"

"I was offended by the New Atheist movement, which included the public intellectuals Sam Harris (The End of Faith, 2004) and Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great, 2007), in addition to Dawkins and Dennett with their evolutionary credentials. In part I was offended by the poor scholarship of the books, which meant that Dawkins and Dennett were falsely trading on their academic reputations. The fact that the books were written for the general reader wasn’t an excuse. The New Atheists clearly began with animosity toward religion and constructed their arguments to support their predetermined conclusion. (P. 33)"

"Trees sequester carbon, harvest water, produce food, and convert sunlight into energy. Those are the four characteristics I would love a city to have. The resiliency of forests is to be emulated. And that’s the reason why I picked forests as my biomimic. I want my city to be as resilient as Earth’s s. The main reason why is occurring is to make room for farms. Before there was farming, which was about ten to twelve thousand years ago, we had six trillion trees. We now have three trillion trees. We’ve cut down half of the Earth’s ability to capture carbon. We’re not going to replace all of that with new trees. But if we got back up to five trillion trees, let’s say, simply by leaving the remaining forests alone and letting them repopulate and selectively harvesting, the Earth’s temperature rise would begin to slow down. And, once you’ve slowed it down, that gives you time to reflect and to prepare for these changes that are not going to go away. Replacing three trillion trees by planting them—that’s not going to work. We’ll never be able to do that. So we have to let nature do that part. And, in order to do that, we have to return a lot of farmland back to what it used to be, which was forests."

"... if you look at the way cities behave, they are parasitic on landscape. In every aspect of whatever they need, they get it from some other place ..."

"Despommier's writing is conversational and fun. He quotes Mark Twain and shares “inside” stories (did you know, for example, that once contracted at a restaurant in New York and later banked a hefty sum for his tsouris?). Despommier also pays homage to early giants of parasitology and the late , a superb spinner of parasite tales known to many members."

"Sustainable urban life is technologically achievable, and most important, highly desirable. For example, food waste can easily be converted back into energy employing clean state-of-the-art incineration technologies, and wastewater can be converted back into drinking water. For the first time in history, an entire city can choose to become the functional urban equivalent of a natural ecosystem. We could even generate energy from incinerating human feces if we so desired. We have the ability to create a "cradle to cradle" waste-free economy. All that is needed is the political will to do so. Once we begin the process, cities will be able to live within their means without further damaging the environment."

"Time Line for 1937 – Discovered in Uganda in the . Mistaken at first for 1951 – Israeli scientists determine the conditions for transmission from the perspective of mosquitoes. Temperature vrs. 1973 – Biggest outbreak in history in South Africa – 3,000 people sick. Hot and dry conditions followed by heavy rains 1999 – West Nile Virus first introduced in USA. Hottest, driest summer on record. 2010 – West Nile virus now an endemic infectious disease of and people. Yearly outbreaks common. All dependent on hot, dry weather, followed by a rain event"

"Ever since we became a species, some 200,000 years ago, s have been responsible for untold amounts of human suffering and countless deaths. For instance, some experts believe that Homo sapi­ens almost became extinct as the result of epidemics caused by malaria that coincided with a time when our numbers were perhaps as low as 400,000 individuals. The worst part is that this killer is still with us. In just over the past one hundred years, as many people have died from worldwide as now live in the United States. While the number of people dying from this one parasite is high, consider the fact that ma­laria in all its forms (there are four) infects some two billion individuals each year. This reduces the mortality rate to around 1 percent, making this group of infectious agents some of the most successful parasites on the planet."

"mainly differ amongst each other in terms of the technological methods used to grow edible plants indoors. 1. The first one, , consists of growing plants on a neutral and inert substrate (e.g. sand, clay, and rock material), which is regularly irrigated by a liquid fortified with minerals and nutrients that are necessary to sustain plant growth. Hydroponic systems use 60-70% less water than traditional outdoor agriculture. They are widely employed by hundreds of thousands of commercial greenhouses and vertical farms throughout the world. 2. The second process of vertical farming is , through which plants are grown without the use of any soil (or soil replacement): their roots, hanging down in the air inside a closed container, are exposed to a fine mist of nutrient-laden water, regularly sprayed through a nozzle. While this is a relatively new method for growing edible plants – it was first developed in 1983 – it is increasingly employed by commercial vertical farms such as and Tower Garden in the US. 3. Finally, a hybrid method, , integrates fish production into the hydroponic growing scheme. More precisely, it uses fish waste as a nutrient source for the plants after treatment, operating as a closed loop ecosystem for indoor farming. However, this system’s complexity and high cost hinder its widespread use. The former two methods are the most common forms of ."

"... People tire of being taken advantage of. Some commit their lives to reforming city politics, and others work on technological solutions that benefit both humankind and . The latter efforts have led to (1) the development of efficient, affordable renewable-energy strategies; (2) carbon-capturing, recyclable construction materials with low s; (3) cost-effective atmospheric water-harvesting methods; and (4) productive vertical farms situated within the city. issues are now front and center on many city council agendas. I call these four applications of technology the four pillars of sustainability."

"When wanders through , he's able to look beyond the half-million cubic yards of soil hauled in by its designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and , to fill in what was mostly a swampy bog surrounded by and . He can trace the shoreline of the long, narrow lake that lay along what is now , north of the , with its tidal outlets that meandered through salt marsh to the . From the west, he can see a pair of streams entering the lake that drained the slope of 's major ridgeline, a deer mountain lion trail known today as ."

"On a hot, fair day, the twelfth of September, 1609, and a small crew of Dutch and English sailors rode the flood tide up a great , past a long, wooded island at latitude 40º 48' north, on the edge of the North American continent. Locally the island was called Mannahatta, or "Island of Many Hills." … Mannahatta had more per acre than , more native plant species per acre than , and more birds than the . Mannahatta housed wolves, s, s, s, , and s; whales, s, , and the occasional visited its harbor. Millions of birds of more than a hundred and fifty different species flew over the island annually on transcontinental s; millions of fish—, , , , and –swam past the island up the and in its streams during annual rites of spring."

"struggle to decide how many animals to save. In this article, I outline 18 approaches to setting population target levels (PTLs) for animals, with rules of thumb and analytical recommendations for each approach. , the most common target level, are necessary but not sufficient for most efforts, given the range of values that bear on conservation. Reference s, either extant or historical, are key for setting practical target levels. Setting PTLs sufficient for conserved populations to be animals in all respects (including functional, social, landscape, ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual aspects) is a critical consensus point. In many cases densities as well as overall population size will need to be specified. I suggest a four-tiered system of setting incrementally higher population target levels such that conservation provides first for demographic sustainability, then ecological integrity, then , and finally , based on times when human beings had less impact on the planet than we do today."

"I came to the Bronx as an ecologist to work for the (the 's parent organization), a New York City cultivation institution with a century-long dedication to and s around the world. My task was to bring technical aspects of modern geography into its global mission to save tigers, elephants, whales, s, and other ... More than most disciplines, ecology thrives on complexity, and ecology in the service of conservation (a subdiscipline called ) pulls one rapidly into the domains of economics, society, and politics."

"... Darwin ... became the official naturalist on the five-year voyage of the "" (1831–1836) ... ... He also read the essay in which Malthus told of the human populations that became too large for the space available to them (1838). This suggested a plan. Some organism must be winnowed out by their natural surroundings; thus, others would be benefited. There would be natural selection."

"... s feed upon microorganism from the muck and water of the bottom and in turn are consumed by es, s and mankind."