5 CREATIVE SCIENTISTS WHO ARE CHANGING THE WORLD

JANE GOODALL - Primatologist

Field Meaning: “Primatology” — The study of primates especially other than recent humans (Merriam-Webster).

Before July of 1960, very little was known about chimpanzees and their life in their natural habitat. That was, at least, until a 26-year-old Jane Goodall set out on a journey from England to Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to study the behavior of these incredible primates.

One of the first things Jane noticed was that the chimps seemed to have unique personalities, so she decided to name them rather than the then-universal practice of numbering animals to keep track of them. In addition to her observance of these personalities, Jane noted “human-like” behavior from the chimpanzees, such as displays of affection, and even armed conflict.

Goodall was among the first to determine that chimpanzees and humans shared similarities beyond genetic composition, her findings supporting similar emotions, intelligence, and relationships as humans have with each other. She also observed that similarly to humans, chimpanzees had the capacity for violence, mostly to establish and maintain dominance.

Goodall’s work challenged important existing assumptions in the scientific community at the time; chimpanzees as vegetarians, and humans as the only animals able to construct and utilize tools. In addition to observing human-like behavior in chimps, Goodall was able to determine that they would often seek and kill living prey as meals, as well as utilizing makeshift tools to achieve these goals.

To this day, Goodall is the only human ever accepted into chimpanzee society; for 22 months during her time in Gombe, Goodall became the lowest-ranking member of a troop of chimpanzees. 

To find out what Jane Goodall is doing next, you can click here to go to janegoodall.org’s ‘Where in the World is Jane?’ page.

MARGARET GELLER - Astrophysicist

“Astrophysics” — A branch of astronomy dealing especially with the behavior, physical properties, and dynamic processes of celestial objects and phenomena (Merriam-Webster).

In 1970, a young Margaret Geller received a degree in physics from UC Berkeley. A mere 4 years later, at 27 years old, Geller completed a Ph.D. in the same subject at Princeton. This was only the beginning of Geller’s research into space, her doctoral dissertation titled "Bright galaxies in rich clusters: a statistical model for magnitude distributions.” 

In 1989, Geller led a team, alongside astronomer John Huchra, to discover a structure which they called the Great Wall. The 760 million light-years long and 200 million light-years wide structure dwarfs the actual Great Wall of China, which would need to have a length of 1.3 billion times itself to even reach the length of a single light year. Talk about expansive! 

To make this discovery, Geller and the team used redshift survey data from the CfA Redshift Survey, which was a survey conducted by the Center for Astrophysics to map the larger-scale structures existing in the universe. However, due to light absorption in the Milky Way galaxy, scientists are currently unable to determine where exactly the wall ends, which means it could be even larger than proposed.  

The Great Wall, or Coma Wall, is a galaxy filament that is one of the largest known structures within the observable universe. Scientists initially held the belief that a structure of that magnitude could not possibly form under the influence of gravity, however, computer simulations prove that the filament fell within theoretical limitations.

In a 1989 article from the Washington Post, the complexity of the discovery is discussed to add more confusion about the origin and development of the universe. However, the discovery allowed Geller to further her quest of creating a three-dimensional map of the universe, of which only about 30,000 galaxies had been mapped in “redshift space” as of November 1989.

To find out more about what work Margaret Geller is currently doing, you can click here to check out her site on Harvard CfA’s information website.

ERIC KANDEL - Neuroscientist

“Neuroscience” — A branch of the life sciences that deals with the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or molecular biology of nerves and nervous tissue and especially with their relation to behavior and learning (Merriam-Webster).

After his undergraduate education at Harvard majoring in History and Literature, in 1952 Eric Kandel took on NYU Medical school, developing an interest in the biological basis of the mind. Kandel’s first exposure to research in the field took place in a lab at Columbia University, leading him to further explore the field of neuroscience, with a special interest in memory and human learning.

Through research and experimentation involving the hippocampus of the brain, Kandel was able to draw connections between the hippocampus and memory storage. However, his research was unable to uncover anything about the general electrophysiological properties of hippocampal neurons that explained why that part of the brain was especially responsible for memory storage.

That was until Kandel realized the connection between memory storage and synaptic connections between neurons. Through studying the ganglia (a group of neuron cells in the nervous system) of a marine invertebrate called the California Sea Hare, Kandel determined a connection between stimuli and specific synapses which corresponded to a form of simple learning.

Kandel’s research allowed him to continue on to publish multiple books, for example, Principles of Neuroscience and In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind. In addition to the latter receiving the LA Times’ Book Award, Kandel received the Harvey Prize in 1993, the Wolf Prize in Medicine in 1999, and the famed Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000.

Kandel joined the Columbia University faculty in 1974, and today, at 92 years old, Kandel is still credited on their website as a member of their staff.

CRAIG VENTER - Biotechnologist

“Biotechnology” — The manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful, usually commercial products (Merriam-Webster).

Craig Venter’s lengthy career encapsulates many contributions to science and technology, eventually earning him the title of Biotechnologist. After earning a Ph.D. at UCSD and teaching at SUNY Buffalo starting in 1984, Venter became a largescale contributor to the 1990’s Human Genome Project (HGP). This international project was developed to entirely map the DNA sequence of the human genome. 

What did they discover: Venter’s interest in patenting genes was sparked by his involvement, leading him to start Celera Genomics to profit from his work on the HGP. The extra excitement this brought on for Venter’s team pushed them to sequence the very first draft of the human genome.

In 2006, Venter founded the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) to conduct research in synthetic biology. The JCVI is also a center for scientific education, offering programs to students of all ages to experience hands-on learning. Just last month in April 2022, Venter sold one of the JCVI facilities to UCSD’s genomics program. 

Among his accomplishments, Venter was rewarded with at least twelve awards since 1996, including the 2011 Dickson Prize in Medicine, as well as the National Medal of Science given in 2008 by President Obama. Venter’s work remains a pivotal part of our knowledge of the human genome to this day.

Despite selling one of his facilities just this year, Venter has no plans of retirement, and plans to continue leading a nonprofit research group of the JCVI.

JACK SZOTSTAK - Biologist

“Biology” — A branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes (Merriam-Webster).

Jack Szostak is another name in contribution to the Human Genome Project. After receiving his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University, Szostak went on to start his own lab at the Harvard Medical School’s Sydney Farber Cancer Institute. During the 1980s, Szostak and his colleagues began conducting experiments on telomeres, which are “a compound structure at the end of a chromosome,” (Oxford Languages).

Along with being credited for the construction of the first-ever Yeast Artificial Chromosome (YAC), Szostak’s work with telomeres revealed that they were responsible for protecting the ends of chromosomes from deteriorating or fusing with chromosomes nearby. 

In the early 90s, Szostak’s laboratory changed its focus to RNA enzymes. Alongside his colleagues, some advancements in studying RNA made by Szostak were the in vitro evolution technique, isolation of both the first aptamer, as well as isolation of enzymes with RNA ligase activity from a random sequence.

Alongside colleagues, in 1982, Szostak’s research proved that telomeres’ DNA is what’s responsible for keeping chromosomes intact. Szostak’s hard work does not come without reward. Among about seven awards Szostak has received, Szostak received the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, as well as the 2011 Oparin Medal.

Today, the Szostak lab is researching the origin of life. In September of this year at the age of 69, Szostak will join the faculty at UChicago leading a new program called the Origins of Life Initiative.