Robert Horvitz @MIT
In an interview I once heard with a successful scientist he said that one of the more important characteristics of good scientists is conviviality. In order to advance in the field and to advance the field itself, a scientist needed to receive and communicate information freely. Once you hear that, it makes sense. How else would you keep up with the latest research and understand the thinking of colleagues in related fields?
In this discussion at MIT, Robert Horvitz instantiates the affable characteristic. Horvitz won the Nobel Prize for his work on apoptosis — the mechanism of programmed cell death. Horvitz stumbled into biology after meeting a charismatic teacher/mentor.
It is worth listening to the hour long discussion just to hear his description of epigenetics (the heritability in gene expression) — a “larger” genetics. He describes the structure of DNA and histones (yielding order to DNA); it makes you wonder how this incredible complexity could have been sorted out, especially when you take into account that the structural presentation of the DNA also has impact.
One point Horvitz emphasized was the importance of basic research. That is, research with no immediate pragmatic application. Horvitz studied a lint sized soil worm. He was told such a focus would lead to career death. However the little digger helped Horvitz prove them wrong; with its 900 genes and short life cycle, this little worm provided some of the deep secrets of Nature and snagged for Horvitz and colleagues a Nobel.
