[...]
CANDY HWANG: What inspired me to pick my field of study was
learning the differences between uracil and cytosine. Those are
nucleotides in our cells. Cytosine is found in our DNA
whereas uracil is found in RNA. And there was this one chemical
modification between the two. A methyl group between the two
nucleosides. And the reason why our cells spend energy to make
this—to make this modification is so that when there are errors
in our cells it can be caught in DNA whereas it can't be caught
in RNA. And so when I found that out, I was like, "Oh my
gosh. This is incredible. Our cells like do this chemistry and
they learn about this." And what's even more fascinating is
this chemistry that our cells do, our immune system also—it
intentionally does this chemistry as well to—for B-cell
immunity, to generate more and more mutations to make more
diverse cells. And so I was like, "Oh my gosh. I'm so
fascinated. I need to know more about this."
At the time, it didn't feel like advice. It felt more like an
insult. But one time I was complaining to one of my friends
about how difficult it was to be a double major. Because we have
extra lab requirements and there was just no time to do
everything. And so I spent a good 30 minutes complaining
about how hard my life was as an undergraduate. And then he
said, "You just wasted 30 minutes of your time
complaining," and so—initially I was like, "I can't believe he
said that." But then it really got to me and I thought I should
work—I should—instead of complaining, I should just try
and work. It could be harder or it could be easier. And so that
really got me going on a work ethic. And so—
Where I learned about the differences between RNA and DNA
was in a bioorganic class. And it was my favorite because it
was where we got to use organic chemistry, but it wasn't as hard
as organic chemistry. You didn't have to know all of those
mechanisms. Only the ones that pertained to a bio context. And
so that's where we learned about the energy and the differences
and cytosine being hydrolyzed to uracil, et cetera. And that
really inspired—that really inspired me to pursue further
graduate study in bioorganic and biochemistry.
Well, okay. So you don't really realize this from the day to day
operation of being a graduate student, especially when you're
with a bunch of chemists. But wearing the lab coat and the
goggles and the gloves, dressing up like a scientist, and doing
chemistry is—it's really exciting. I mean sometimes it's
not. It's figures, data crunching, and things like that.
But I mean you look like a scientist. And so you're like,
"Wow. I have all these test tubes and—little reaction
flasks everywhere." And so it—my lab actually looks like
I'm doing chemistry.
Researchers in order to have data they need to have a huge
work ethic because we have to go day in and day out. And when
something—we do something incorrectly we can't just pass
it aside. We have to redo it. And that requires an incredible
amount of patience. And then the second thing that I think
researchers really need is knowing how to communicate. So
it's so easy to talk about your research to a coworker who
understands what you're doing, but to talk to a broader
audience is so difficult because you want to be correct. You
want to be as rigorous and as accurate as you can be. But
when you move to metaphors and analogies, it starts to become a
little blurry. And—but if you don't use metaphors and
analogies, then you can't really explain your work to people.
They—it just goes over their head or they just—they get lost
in the scientific jargon. And so I think that's a really
valuable trait to have as a researcher.
I think the benefits of my research—elucidating the
mechanism of nitrogenase—has two benefits. One, it's such a
complex and fascinating enzyme. It does really interesting
chemistry. On its own, it has three unique metaclusters. So
if we were to learn how it worked just from a chemistry
standpoint, we could learn all the mechanisms. Or it could
help with new inorganic catalysts. Or we can just learn
basic science from studying this enzyme. A second incentive for
studying it would be it could provide insight into making
new catalysts for the Haber-Bosch process. And since
it does it at such ideal and optimum conditions compared to
the industrial process, it could really help reduce the cost
of producing ammonia, which happens to be one of the most
produced chemicals worldwide.
Would it be weird to say that I think my students have had a
huge impact on me in terms of being a researcher and an
educator. Because I think a lot of research is education, but
it's a lot of people don't think of it that way. I've had a lot
of opportunities to teach students and I think that's
where the fascination and enthusiasm for science comes
from. I remember this one time in o chem. lab something was not
going right in lab. So—but it's fine. We actually did science.
And so when we found out what went wrong with the lab and we
made a conclusion based on a hypothesis, I literally jumped
for joy and was like, "Guys, this is science. This is
research." And they were actually excited. It was
awesome. And so I think when I work with students, it's
motivating because the more we learn the more we can teach.
I mean assuming that my iPhone wasn't in my pocket, it would
be my iPhone.
I love Death Cab for Cuties, Snow Patrol, Passion Pit.