Curiosity created this scientist
Dr Imogen Wright is a bioinformatician at the University of the Western Cape. She tells Margaret Harris that if thought leaders educated themselves beyond the confines of their expertise, we would have healthier public debate in the world Tell me about your work.
I’d call myself a bioinformatician, a software developer and an entrepreneur in about equal measures. My undergraduate degree was in physics and computer science, and my masters was in theoretical physics. My PhD, though, was in bioinformatics — a new field, described as a mix of biology, computer science and statistics. Now I’ve founded a company, Hyrax Biosciences, with my former PhD supervisor, Professor Simon Travers, and two other scientists. We build software that enables HIV and TB drug-resistance testing.
Where would bioinformaticians typically work?
In front of a computer — either in industry or academia. We work closely with biologists, who give us raw data that’s too complex to be handled by non-computational methods. We then make meaning from this data.
What are your main functions?
We live in a truly extraordinary time in history. Life on this planet is three billion years old, but we didn’t know how life described itself, copied itself or evolved. Then, in the ’50s we discovered that this was thanks to DNA, which is a simple code that uses molecular “letters” to describe life.
One of the primary jobs of a bioinformatician, then, is to understand DNA. I do this mostly with the DNA of bacteria and viruses. I hunt for the mutations in HIV and TB that make individual strains resistant to drugs.
If we find a mutation in a patient’s DNA that confers drug resistance, we know not to prescribe that drug to that patient. This saves lives and prevents the spread of the disease.
Were you interested in science as a child?
I was interested in black holes, insects, becoming an astronaut or a palaeontologist. Scientifically inclined children are, unfortunately, much more common than adult scientists! The attrition, I believe, begins in adolescence, when scientific curiosity is squeezed into a straitjacket by a combination of uninspiring curriculums and peer pressure. This is particularly true for girls, who experience a strong social pressure away from science at this age.
But I was lucky: I had inspiring teachers and friends who were as geeky as I was. Thus, I was able to keep tinkering around with computers and reading books about physics, which led to my choice of science as a career.
What characteristics do you need if you want to work in the sciences?
Only two personality traits: deep curiosity and attention to detail. Beyond that, some mathematical ability is always useful, and I think proceeds naturally from the first two traits.
I also believe that anyone interested in a scientific career should read as widely as possible, and include literature and philosophy in their reading. Because of the vast expansion of the boundaries of human knowledge in the modern era, education systems are now forced to produce highly specialised academics — which makes it increasingly difficult to create a cultural conversation that progresses in a holistic, wellinformed manner. If thought leaders in one discipline would educate themselves on the broader framework in which their expertise resides, we may ultimately see a healthier form of public debate.
Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand and the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas. — Henry Ford