Hello. I love DNA and molecular genetics. This is my first blog so please be patient while I work out the kinks.
I’m not a good bench scientist – or cook. I’m the one who would spill phenol (yep, on a Sat night) or set my hair on fire (did that too). I think the scientific world breathed a collective sigh of relief when I hung up my labcoat.
Me: in front of tough audience (high school students)
Now, I spend my time teaching in academia and the ‘real world’. I explain genetics & biological mechanisms to medical students but most of my time is spent with other audiences. I run an outreach program to help people understand the concepts but also to get excited about science. My purpose is not to make others think like me but I want us to have the same starting point for discussion (mutation means X, theory means Y, etc.). When I create new activities, I want the participant to explore and think about the ideas, not just find the right answer. I believe that science is a process not a test of memorization.
I’ve started this blog to continue the goals of communication, popularization and education of science (as BoraZ so nicely described here).
Science Information
My name is Catherine Anderson and I finished my PhD in 2002. I studied epigenetic marks on the inactive X chromosome. For my PostDoc, I looked at connections between confined placenta mosaicism and pre-eclampsia. I have recently been studying pedometers in the classroom and aspects of online discussion in medical school.
Contact me
Please comment on this blog or email me at anderson [at] genegeek [dot] ca. You can also follow me on twitter: @genegeek.
One more thing: The opinions on this blog are mine and do not represent the views or opinions of my employers or collaborators.
Alison Fredericksen says
Thank you so much for helping me begin to get a grasp of human genetics. I am just studying to be a medical coder but I wanted to understand some of the science underneath newer treatments (ie stem cell and gene therapy) and found your writings to be very helpful and clear.
Javier says
Nice introduction. Good enough to give me a reason to follow your tweets and blogs
Suzanne Elvidge says
@genegeek – love the blog. I blog at http://www.genome-engineering.com and http://www.geeksciencefactoftheday.wordpress.com – would you be interested in any guest blogs?
Luisa Parente says
Dear Catherine a dominant gene suggests to be a stronger gene than a recessive gene. But is it really, or is exactly the opposite?
That is why loss of heterozigosity should not be considered a dominant trait but a recessive trait.
David Lott says
hello Catherine I am Dave Lott ive just completed building juno ( a great project thankyou) but after days of searching I cannot the code anywhere! could you find some time to send it to me or direct me to it in lay mans terms so juno can start roaming please. I have successfully downloaded the controller app . Many thaks again for a wonderful project building juno and the hovercraft. I look forward to your advice Ragards Dave
genegeek says
That’s exciting! We changed our website so the code section was missing. We have it on github: https://github.com/exploremaking/Juno/blob/0f7f4b9e2f57320fefdc082bb9b3c3c4ca91d4e9/Juno.ino