HC Howard

Expert Policy, Ethical, Legal & Social Issues (ELSI) of new techs, genomics, DDLS, Public Engagement, Empirical Bioethics. Gender-equality in academia advocate

[Mushtaq Bilal, PhD @MushtaqBilalPhD]

This is unbelievable!

Kurt Wüthrich, an 84-year-old, Swiss, male scientist, who won the Nobel Prize in 2002 claims that "as a male scientist" he has "a feeling of discrimination."

He said this during the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on a panel that had four old, male scientists including him and an old, male moderator. (It was literally a susage fest!)

When Science Magazine asked him to elaborate on the kind of discrimnation he faced, "Wüthrich said he did not feel personally discriminated against as an individual at the event but thought that all men attendees faced discrimination while women were tokenized."

Here's an example of the discrimination Kurt Wüthrich, a Nobel Prize winner, gave:

In group photos of laureates, women laureates were asked to stand in front while male scientists like him were told to stand behind them 🤦😂😭

This makes him feel "horrible" because asking women laureates to stand in front is "ridiculous, fully ridiculuous."

A young scholar countered Wüthrich's childish tantrum and the moderator tried to shut her up.

For reference, here's a comparison:

Nobel Prizes won:
By men: 892
By women: 60

Speakers invited to this year's Lindau meeting:
Men: 34
Women: 5

------

A couple of observations:

1. The feeling among men that gender equality is somehow a form of discrimination against them is not limited to incels (involuntary celibates) on the internet.

Male Nobel Prize winners can feel the same way too.

2. Many young scholars and scientists are still playing the "prestige" game: do a PhD in a "prestigious" university, do a postdoc in a "prestigious" lab, go to "prestigious" meetings like Lindau.

Playing the prestige game takes a lot of toll on one's mental health and personal relationships. The worst part is make you feel extremely insecure.

No amount of external validation, not even a Nobel Prize, will help you overcome your insecurities.

[Dr. Barbara Stranger @be_stranger]

1/We are excited to finally share our recent work in @CellCellPress. We provide guidance for testing for sex differences in the genetic architecture of complex traits. This includes quality control, models, chrX, caveats, limitations, & next directions. https://t.co/RuiqqFje50

[Gemma Chandratillake @GemmaChand]

.@thinkDNA turning the tables and studying the researchers. Returning results from research #ESHG2023

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@swedeninfocus @AStraberg @ElafAli__ @SvD @StiftelsenExpo Thanks for addressing the "flag issue". Seeing all the national flags waved in the studenten vans as they drive through Vasaplatsen only makes me feel hopeful for the future of Sweden. It's a beautiful mosaic of backgrounds and experiences that we should honour and respect.

[Saloni @salonium]

You often hear that full siblings "share 50% of their DNA."

But did you know this is actually the median and the range is pretty wide, roughly between 40–60%? https://t.co/KLeu4KnwgP
https://t.co/sna006rqR9

[Connie Walker @connie_walker]

A Pulitzer & a Peabody!! What an unbelievable 2 days! This feels like undeniable proof that Indigenous stories matter & that we should support Indigenous people to tell them. We are so grateful to survivors who shared with us & hope this means more people will hear their voices.

[Vardit Ravitsky @VarditRavitsky]

Honored and thrilled to be entrusted with the Presidency of the amazing @hastingscenter, following the great leadership of @mildredzsolomon!

Thanks all for the good wishes you sent - warmed my heart! @ESPUM_UdeM @HMSbioethics @IABioethics @cresp_sante

https://t.co/BGuKAbRjI8

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@VarditRavitsky @hastingscenter @mildredzsolomon @ESPUM_UdeM @HMSbioethics @IABioethics @cresp_sante Bravo! Bravo! This is just fantastic news!

[Ewan Birney @ewanbirney]

Grrr. It's 2023, and can we please stop funding/commissioning/publishing human genetic association studies with cases <1,000 (on case/control) or <1,000 overall (quantitative traits) in humans. It is just not going to work well. We know this.

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

I would add:
1- Not an inconvenience at all!
2- Not enough flavours of just bad academic, arrogant, ignoramus to describe this Jordan person

[Dr Adam Rutherford @AdamRutherford]

I dunno man, maybe treat them like a human? Listen to them, maybe?
I haven’t spent years studying clinical psychology nor is my brain addled by benzos and cow, but I find this super easy, barely an inconvenience.
https://t.co/ZYeFutOq5i

[Dr Adam Rutherford @AdamRutherford]

I dunno man, maybe treat them like a human? Listen to them, maybe?
I haven’t spent years studying clinical psychology nor is my brain addled by benzos and cow, but I find this super easy, barely an inconvenience.
https://t.co/ZYeFutOq5i

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@aysirakaya @NHM_London They are lucky to have you!

[Theater of War Productions @TheaterofWar]

Join us on Feb 23 at 5pm EST for #thenurseantigone featuring @MargaretAtwood @FrankieFaison #JessieBuckley #atoblanksonwood @SigmaNursing @bermaninstitute @JHUNursing @LMTischFund #resilientnursesinitiative https://t.co/jRrEgVkFoK

[Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa (She/Her 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦🇨🇴) @clopezcorrea]

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity debate the issue of access and benefit-sharing from digital sequence information on genetic sources #DSI

Great and timely reporting on #openDSI by @sahanaghosh8

#COP15 #GCatCOP15 #biodiversity #genomics https://t.co/ooZj03H05y

[Nina Holland @nina_holland]

NOW: farmer Paul Francois speaking in front of #Bayer-Monsanto lobby office in Brussels. Succesfully sued #Monsanto for causing grave health damage from using #pesticide Lasso, but not getting damages compensated! Outrageous.

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@elizakcourtney @LValleResearch @kikiforzano Happy to. We set something up closer to the meeting.

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@LValleResearch @elizakcourtney @kikiforzano Deadline is usually between end of Jan to mid February (often including an extension to the deadline, and often on or near valentine's day... as if Genetics needs any more sweetness!).

[Francesca Forzano @kikiforzano]

Website now live! #eshg2023 check the program, send your abstract and join us in Glasgow in person or from your living room on June 2023!

[HC Howard @thinkDNA]

@a_blasimme Ok, I feel this is really really really really hard to read from the Nordics... how about you send a bit of every food you take a photo of! :-)

[Fyodor Urnov @UrnovFyodor]

Let me be BRUTALLY clear.
The next step for this movement, superbly reported on by @mjnblack, is CRISPR "enhancement" of human embryos.
This will happen unless we face a stark reality: there is NO. UNMET. MEDICAL. NEED for embryo editing and thus ban it.
https://t.co/tBGQrYVo38