Read “How to continually make the case for fundamental science: from the perspective of a protein kinase”, a summary of Jim Woodgett’s Arthur Wynne Gold Medal talk presented at the Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences annual meeting held in Banff in April 2018. This summary was published in Canadian Science Publishing’s Biochemistry and Cell Biology, one of the CSMB official journals.

Abstract: The strength of the scientific process is its immunity from human frailties. The built-in error correction and robustness of principles protect and nurture truth, despite both intended and unintended errors and naivety. What it doesn’t secure is understanding of how the scientific sausage is made. Here, a scientific journey revolving around a single protein that spans nearly 35 years is used to illustrate the twists and turns that can accompany any scientific path. Lessons learned from such exploration speak to the need for story-telling in communicating scientific meaning — and the effectiveness of this will influence future investment and understanding of the scientific endeavor.

Read the full article in Biochemistry and Cell Biology:

https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/bcb-2019-0130