This is why the map of the human genome may not be as accurate as it could be.  My colleagues and I used to spit in the plates containing the DNA for extraction and sequencing.  My first job out of college was at a company called Celera founded by J. Craig Venter (legend has it that his yacht’s sail had his face on it), he led the private sector charge to sequence the genome competing against NIH’s effort led by the equally formidable Francis Collins.  The job was repetitive, physically taxing, poor supervisor, so some nights we would play football with the plates and insert our own DNA as mentioned.  Regardless, I got to be a small part of history.  I did bump into Venter once.  I still have one of my lab coats (with my name embossed).  I gave the other to the girl I lit the candles for.

My second job was slightly better, but it was the makeup of the lab that was special.  Never have I worked with such a diverse group – Black, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Egyptian, Caucasian, Ethiopian.  Our potlucks were amazing.  It got me ready for the future.  I used to put candy bars in the freezers to chill them for dessert.  And to this day, I don’t need an external timer, I got so good at internally measuring time.

Fun times aside, my science background came in the most useful in NYC.  At its heart, biology is the study of processes, systems, and their interconnectedness.  I viewed the city as an ecosystem (concrete jungle where dreams are made of right?) and the Department as a complex organism within it.

I was never going to be a scientist type.  I could barely function in a lab.  But for some reason, I felt led to major in biological science over business, history, political science (all which I was probably better suited for).  It makes sense now, it also helped me have a deeper appreciation for our world and universe.  Oh and baseball pitches.