I am writing this in the days of the
Covid19 Pandemic.
Do you know what is a Virus? When I ask people this question, the answer
is related to their age. High school kids
immediately answer: It is RNA, one strand of the DNA. With older people, their answer varies with
their profession and aptitude to understand science.
I will skip the complex science and just explain this:
the basic point is that a virus is made of the genetic material. What is our understanding of the genetic
material? The exact structure of the genetic material was discovered by scientists in the 1950's. The timing of this historic break-through and its effects on racism and discrimination against women is quite important.
I also ask the question: "Why is it important for
the society that it citizens understand the nature of genetics?" There is no better way to demonstrate that we
are all human!
I could tell you about the personalities
of the scientists involved. I can bring
some simple answers and I would love to tell more to those who are interested.
The chemical structure of the genetic material
was discovered in the fifties. Until
then it was not clear how and why some people are black, and some are
white. Most people believed blacks are
inferior because of the color of their skin.
One issue of the National Geographic Magazine was dedicated a few years ago to
racism. I read some of the articles and
I could not comprehend some of the things that people believed about
blacks.
Before these discoveries most white men
believed that women did not have the same thinking and analytic skills as
men. Some capable women writers and
musicians had to take male pseudonyms, so they could publish their
creations. The Nobel Committee had a
hard time awarding the Nobel Prize to Marie Curie, so she had to accept it with
her husband.
The nature of epidemics was not understood at
all. The black plague may have reduced
the world population from an estimated 475 million to 375 million in the 14th
century. People were scared and so
ignorant, they pointed blaming fingers at the Jews: They are the ones that are
poisoning the water wells and causing all the deaths.
The two
scientists that discovered the chemical structure of DNA, the genetic material
in human cells, received the Nobel prize in 1962. They were two white men: Watson and
Crick. Years later they admitted that
they got an important clue from an X-ray photograph taken by a woman: Rosalind
Franklin. She died at the age of 36, from
cancer caused by over exposure to radiation.
I recommend her biography that came out in 2002: The Dark Lady of DNA.
I am very
hopeful that our children and grandchildren, growing up after these
discoveries, will be free of prejudice.
For them DNA structure, computers and smart phones are a matter of
fact. They should understand better the
nature of viruses and epidemics. They
should treat epidemics with logic and scientific knowledge.
We pride
ourselves in a free democratic society. We expect people to follow rules and
respect them. I maybe too naive to believe that most people would trust
scientists. However, I hear more and
more people are ignoring the advice of experts. Poking fun at scientists.
It really upsets me.
I still hope
for a better world.
