• Question: What kind of science do you do? chem , bio , phy

    Asked by ashleychamberlain to Susana, Sam, Ed, Dave, Ben on 14 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 14 Jun 2013:

      I’m primarily a biologist. All of my training up to now has been in molecular biology and plant science methods. In my lab I definitely fall more on the biology side of things, some of my colleagues work purely on protein structure. A sound understanding of chemistry is a requirement for my day to day activities though.

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 14 Jun 2013:

      All of the above! But mostly biology.

      If we start of with physics, we use our understanding of X-rays and crystals to find what a protein looks like. Once we know what it looks like we figure out how proteins act on a chemical level. Once we know the chemistry we can apply that to how the protein acts in the biological system.

      Essentiall physics is applied maths, chemsitry is applied physics and biology is applied chemistry. it all adds up to better our understanding.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 15 Jun 2013:

      I’ve always described protein crystallography as a subtle blend of particle physics and biological chemistry. So all of the above!

      But I am mostly using crystallography to answer questions about biology. So if you walked up to me in the street and asked me what I do, I’d say a I’m a biologist

    • Photo: Ed Lowe

      Ed Lowe answered on 16 Jun 2013:

      A mix of all of them, and really. My training originally was in biology and chemistry but for most of my career I have been working in protein crystallography which also involves a healthy dose of physics. In fact, since I work almost as much on instrumentation as biological problems these days it’s a real mix.

    • Photo: Susana Teixeira

      Susana Teixeira answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Fantastic question! You will see that most scientists nowadays find it difficult to define what they do in one single area. Multi-tasking and integrating different areas is very common nowadays.

      My best answer is all 3 of them, I would say I am a Biophysical Chemist. My undergraduate was in Chemical Engineering, but I learned Biology and Physics when I became a Crystallographer.

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