Researchers are Punks

[Guest guest]

The following article was published this morning in The Scientist - Faculty

of 1,000 Peer Review.

There may be few on the list who can identify that cozily with punks, but

there are many who can identify with the " creativity, do-it-yourself

individualism, anti-establishmentarianism, and attitude " of research

scientists. I hope list members gain/maintain respect for research

scientists - it is the clinicians and their guilds who tend to be the stodgy

party poopers. -

THE SCIENTIST

February 10, 2011

By Alison McCook

The fields of science and punk rock share some surprising similarities,

according to the people who love both.

Creativity, do-it-yourself individualism, anti-establishmentarianism, and

attitude -- these are the central tenets of punk music. But to many

scientists, they should sound very familiar.

" Punk ethos is typified by a passionate adherence to individualism,

creativity and freedom of expression with no regard to established

opinions, " Bill Cuevas, biochemist at the biotech company Genencor and music

director at the Stanford University radio station KZSU

<http://kzsu.stanford.edu/> , tells The Scientist. " Good scientific

discipline is also typified by such qualities, including inquisitiveness and

curiosity, with no entrenchment to established beliefs. "

Punk music became a force to be reckoned with by the late 1970s, embodied by

bands such as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash. This new breed of

musician questioned authority, rejected traditions, and stripped music down

to its essential elements.

Importantly, punk is " about the freedom to express what you want to

express, " says Milo Aukerman, a plant researcher at DuPont and lead singer

of legendary punk band The Descendents. In many ways, research is the same

-- more so than in other professions, scientists can set their own schedules

and decide what they want to study. " There is a certain freedom implied

there, " Aukerman adds.

Both punk and science also value individualism and are not always embraced

by society, notes Lane Pederson, a clinical psychology researcher and

drummer in the punk band Dillinger Four. " In that sense, I think both of

them have a subcultural aspect to them. "

Biology in particular values those who question conventional wisdom, trying

to debunk what's accepted, according to Aukerman. " We're always looking for

discoveries that challenge current thinking, " he says. " Punk rock is like

that, too. "

And Pederson, Cuevas, and Aukerman aren't the only scientists who've

cultivated a parallel passion for punk -- Dexter Holland, singer of The

Offspring, studied molecular biology in graduate school; Gregg Gillis, the

man behind the ultimate mash-up act Girl Talk, was a biomedical engineer;

and Greg Graffin, a member of Bad Religion, is now a biologist at the

University of California, Los Angeles.

Aukerman has made a habit of hopping between the lab, the recording studio,

and the tour bus. Music gave him a break from science, after which he could

come back to the lab with more " creative oomph, " he recalls. For instance,

when his postdoc at the University of Wisconsin started to feel dreary, he

took a year off to play with The Descendents. " I was just feeling stagnated.

And it got rid of the stagnation. "

Today, he identifies genes in Arabidopsis that might be used to improve

maize. He's using his vacation time to do a couple of shows this year, in

part to satisfy his 6-year-old daughter's request to see him live.

The truth is, more scientists would likely embrace punk than they may

realize, says Cuevas, who engineers proteins that can be used to create

carbon-neutral energy when he's not hosting a weekly radio show on KZSU.

" Scientist or not, anyone with an open mind [and a] passion for life has the

punk ethos. "

Scientists who want to get a taste of punk for the first time could start

with compilation records of the early 1980s, Cuevas suggests, which include

a variety of bands and styles. " Also, anything by Minor Threat is

essential. " Aukerman recommends the band Nomeansno, which overlays

complexity on punk's typically spartan style.

The best thing to do, says Pederson, is to visit a record store that carries

punk and talk to the clerks about what topics (politics, sociology) and

style (hard, soft, melodic) you prefer, and they will point you to

something. Like science, punk is " really so much more diverse than people

think. "

Of course, even if punk music and science share many elements, the

comparison can be taken too far, says Aukerman. For instance, you don't see

many punk musicians singing about science. " I will probably never ever write

a song about DNA, " he says.

Read more: <http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57984/#ixzz1DfdR8BJb>

Researchers are punks - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

<http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57984/#ixzz1DfdR8BJb>

http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57984/#ixzz1DfdR8BJb