In two American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) award essays published in the society’s journal Molecular Biology of the Cell, Mina Bissell, distinguished scientist in the Biological Systems & Engineering Division, and Eva Nogales, faculty structural biologist in the Molecular Biologist in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division, each candidly describe their inspiring, personal journeys.
Bissell (l), recipient of ASCB’s 2016 E. B. Wilson Medal, writes in her essay’s abstract she “thought long and hard whether I could avoid talking about family and personal life, and just share the excitement of being a scientist and how science continues to sustain us all. But so many people, especially younger scientists, want to know—and always ask—How did you do it?” Her award essay “Thinking in three dimensions: discovering reciprocal signaling between the extracellular matrix and nucleus and the wisdom of microenvironment and tissue architecture,” is her “personal narrative” answering, in part, this question.
In her award essay “Dear microtubule, I see you,” ASCB’s 2016 Keith R. Porter Lecture Award recipient Nogales summarizes her “personal journey toward the atomic visualization of microtubules and a mechanistic understanding of how these amazing polymers work. During this journey, I have been witness and partaker in the blooming of a technique I love—cryo-electron microscopy.”
Bissell and Nogales will be presented with their awards at the American Society for Cell Biology’s annual meeting on December 3-7, 2016 in San Francisco, where the society will also host a dinner in their honor.
