Citizen ScienceNew programs empower the individualto engage in scientific inquiry.pg. 22“What is genius but thepower of expressing anew individuality?”—Elizabeth Barrett BrowningExploringIdentityIdentity: an expression of uniqueness;a reflection of self; a scientific mystery.pg. 37PersonalizedMedicineThe media, arts, and sciences havelong celebrated individuality. Andnow, thanks to genetic sequencing,medicine is following suit.pg. 8ART BY RACHEL LAWRENCE
F R O M T H E E D I T O RScience and the IndividualEvery now and then, we come across scientific discoveries that earn a collective doubletakefrom humanity. The first man on the moon. The discovery of the Higgs Boson. Theearliest, shadowy X-ray images of DNA’s double helix. Breakthroughs like these are theones that answer sweeping questions about who we are and where we came from. Theyresonate with all of mankind by exploring the universal.But by zooming in, we find that some of the most fascinating mysteries in science lie atthe individual level—a single, rare case of liver cancer, for instance, or a phenotypic quirkthat appears in one identical twin and not the other. By straying from the average, theseoutliers can provide telling clues about the sample as a whole. With this in mind, the YaleScientific will devote its first issue of 2014 to exploring “Science and the Individual.” Fromadvances in personalized medicine (pg. 8) to debates on the biological basis of identity (pg.37), we have much to learn from probing the myriad factors that make each of us unique.This issue will also examine the intimate relationship between science and the individual.It’s easy to assume that science is locked away in ivory towers, when in fact it pervades nearlyevery aspect of daily life; the wide array of topics in this issue suggests that science calls outto each of us in strikingly different ways. To the 65-year-old with advanced Alzheimer’s, themost important scientific contribution may be pending research on neuron regeneration(pg. 20). To a woman in rural South Africa, it could be a shelter that protects her familyfrom lightning strikes (pg. 28). And to that Yalie from southern California, it may simply bea deeper understanding of how cold affects the human body (pg. 26).Thanks to the growing citizen science movement, even those without formal trainingcan now contribute to groundbreaking scientific research by gathering and analyzing dataon their own. The investigative article on page 22 highlights the trajectory of Yale’s owncitizen science program, a joint effort between the Yale Office of Sustainability and PeabodyMuseum of Natural History. Through training students and staff to track biodiversity oncampus, the growing initiative draws science and the average person even closer together.And so, in this issue we invite you to join us in celebrating the individual. With morefrequent online articles, brand new outreach initiatives, and a redesigned layout, the YaleScientific aims to convey the resounding impact of scientific discovery — on the world, onthe research community, and perhaps most importantly, on the individual. In these pages, Ihope that you will discover an aspect of science that resonates with you.Editor-in-ChiefPublisherYale ScientificM A G A Z I N EEstablished in 1894MARCH 2014 VOL. 87 NO. 2Managing EditorsNews EditorFeatures EditorArticles EditorOnline EditorCopy EditorsProduction ManagerLayout EditorsArts EditorWebmasterAdvertising ManagerDistribution ManagerSubscriptions ManagerSynapse DirectorAssociate Synapse DirectorScience on Saturdays CoordinatorVolunteer CoordinatorSenior Business AdvisorSenior Editorial AdvisorStaff WritersRenee WuTheresa SteinmeyerBlake SmithGrace PanContributing WritersLisa ZhengLorraine JamesEmmy YangRain TsongMari KawakatsuMariana Do CarmoRebecca SuAurora XuChanthia MaNaaman MehtaAndrew QiPayal MaratheJulia RothchildGrace CaoChristina de FontnouvelleJiahe GuKevin WangCarrie CaoRachel LawrenceAparna NathanNicole TsaiClaudia ShinElena MalloyAdam PissarisMina HimwichEmma GrahamSomin LeeZachary MankoffClaudia ShinKarthik ArdhanareeswaranJessica HahneTaryn LaubensteinZachary MillerAmeya MahajanHenry (Fangyi) LiMari KawakatsuTessa AdlerCaroline AyinonAudrey LuoZachary GardnerAustin IgelmanA B O U T T H E A R TRebecca SuEditor-in-ChiefAdvisory BoardSean Barrett, ChairPriyamvada NatarajanKurt ZilmFred VolkmarStanley EisenstatJames DuncanMelinda SmithPeter KindlmannWerner WolfJohn WettlauferWilliam SummersJeremiah QuinlanCarl SeefriedPhysicsAstronomyChemistryChild Study CenterComputer ScienceDiagnostic RadiologyEcology & Evolutionary BiologyElectrical EngineeringEmeritusGeology & GeophysicsHistory of Science, Medicine, & Public HealthUndergraduate AdmissionsYale Science & Engineering AssociationYale ScientificEstablished in 1894THE NATION’S OLDEST COLLEGE SCIENCE PUBLICATIONMARCH 2014 VOL. 87 NO. 2cancer breakthroughGenetic technology revolutionizes treatmentour water footprintA new look at sustainabilityGlobal demand strains resourcesThe cover art, designed by Arts Editor Nicole Tsai, illustratesthe world’s surging demand for metals used to create hightechproducts. In the foreground, molten metal is squeezed outof the Earth to form an array of electronic gadgets. A scenefrom a metal mine emerges from the background. Contributingartists for this issue were Rachel Lawrence (page 4), NicoleTsai (pages 12, 20), Jason Liu (page 16), Jeremy Puthumana(page 18), Audrey Luo (page 22), Casey McLaughlin (pages26-27), Danielle Carrol (page 28), Grace Pan (page 29),Christina Zhang (page 30), Carrie Cao (pages 35, 37), andCelina Chiodo (page 39).The Yale Scientific Magazine (YSM) is published four times a yearby Yale Scientific Publications, Inc. Third class postage paid in NewHaven, CT 06520. Non-profit postage permit number 01106 paidfor May 19, 1927 under the act of August 1912. ISN:0091-287. Wereserve the right to edit any submissions, solicited or unsolicited, forpublication. This magazine is published by Yale College students,and Yale University is not responsible for its contents. Perspectivesexpressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of YSM.We retain the right to reprint contributions, both text and graphics,in future issues as well as a non-exclusive right to reproduce thesein electronic form. The YSM welcomes comments and feedback.Letters to the editor should be under 200 words and should includethe author’s name and contact information. We reserve the right toedit letters before publication. Please send questions and commentsto ysm@yale.edu.
Change language