Is research set up for bullies to thrive

A lot of discussion has been happening on how to make the laboratory experience a happy one. Given the fact that the Principal Investigators (PI) have tremendous clout and power and that the students/post-docs are on the other end of the power equation, cases of abuse abound.  Abuse, of course, takes many hues.
There is an article in Nature on this topic this week.  It caught my attention because it described a supervisor who followed the student around the lab, shaming her, yelling at her, and in general being as abusive as possible.  There was one more such report from Germany, where a researcher who focuses on empathy was anything but empathetic to her colleagues.
My student applied for post-doc positions in India. I was curious when she rejected some of the good labs.  I asked her for reason.  She told me that the PI had told her upfront that he expects her to work long hours every day, including the weekends.  Implied in this was, of course, she should not take holidays.  My student burst out "Don't I have a life?"
Unfortunately, as I am discovering, this attitude is very common.  I am also discovering that many PI have put in CCTV as well as microchip to monitor their student's activities.  Then there are those who spy out whether a student has boyfriend/girlfriend.  Woe betide if they turn out to have one.
Actually, it makes me wonder whether such PI have a life or not.  My lab is just one part of my life.  Of course I also sometimes (like when a paper is due for revision or when the clock is running out for the student to submit a paper or thesis) restore to hounding a student out and I am sure they grumble and moan about it.  But for me, 90% of the time, lab ceases when I walk out of it at 5 pm. That is the end. 
I pay for it, of course. I do not have umpteen publications. I will never be made member of any Indian Academies. I will never be given any recognition.  But, at the same time, I want to make science fun for my students. They should do it because they enjoy it. They should come to the lab because it is a good place for them to learn.  They will make mistakes but in the end, I hope, a spark is lit.
In the end, I suppose, it is about what you want from life.

Hunting for ALS genes- STAT news

One of my Uncles died of ALS.  We watched him fade away within five years of diagnosis.  There is no cure for the disease.  Indeed there is no cure for most of the neurological disorders. 
ALS or Lou-Gehrig disease is caused because some genes malfunction.  There is no one particular gene that causes ALS but there are many genes that are associated with this disease.  Each gene increases the risk.
The disease is not inherited.  Usually.
But it is inherited in some families (familial ALS).  Especially, if inter-marriages are common.  Genetic analysis of such families can lead a researcher to identity the genes associated with a disease.
STAT News has a great article on how a neurologist is tracking down the gene associated with familial ALS.
 

The River of Consciousness- Oliver Sacks

My M.Sc. student gifted me this book when his project got completed.  I am grateful to him for it is a wonderful read.  Published posthumously, compiled during his final illness, the book comprises of set of essays covering a whole gamut of topics.
He starts with Darwin- not the usual Origin of species but covering Darwin's experiments with plants and making the argument for evolution and natural selection.  So timely given the cacophony emanating from many of the right-wingers. I always used to be proud of the fact that Evolution and natural selection used to be taught in India without interference from religion (unlike America) but of course, I had reckoned without the right wing coming to power.  They, of course, do not believe in Evolution.
Oliver Sacks then talks about speed and couple of other topics.  But my favorites were towards the end.  There was one on mishearing. When he starts to lose hearing, he also starts to mishear. I showed it to my father who is now suffering from lose of hearing.  My father was deeply appreciative of this essay.
Then came the one on The River of Consciousness where he makes the case that what we think of one continuous stream of thought is in fact frames of thoughts stitched together into one continuous frame.  A remarkable power of our brain
The final essay was on Scotoma: Forgetting and Neglect in Science.  Many of the discoveries are neglected during the scientist's life time.  Take for instance Mendel.  He publishes his discoveries in a journal.  No one pays attention and then in 1900s, the laws are rediscovered.  And now Mendel is celebrated as Father of Genetics.  Or Barbara McClintock who discovered the so-called jumping genes.  No one paid attention till it turned out that these genes are important component the genome and contribute a great deal to variation.
All in all it is a book my father says he would like to read.