#112 - Notes on DNA, Hardships and Biohacking
Education Coffee is a 2xNewsletter on People, Ideas and Culture.
In each edition of this newsletter, I share inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts.
1. Learning from People
Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920 – 1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite. She clicked Photograph 51 that was a famous X-ray image of DNA that was taken in 1952 at King's College London that showed the double-helix structure of DNA.
#Curiosity - Franklin was 11 when she went to St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith, west London. This was one of the few girls' schools in London that taught physics and chemistry.
#Competence - In 1941 Franklin graduated with a degree in natural sciences from Newnham College, Cambridge. She then enrolled for a PhD in physical chemistry. She moved to Paris in 1947 as a chercheur (postdoctoral researcher) under Jacques Mering at the Laboratoire Central des Services Chimiques de l'État. Here she learned important technical skills and became an accomplished X-ray crystallographer.
#Creation - In 1950, she started working with John Randall in the biophysics unit at King's College, London. Here she partnered with a graduate student Raymond Gosling to use X-Ray diffraction techniques to study DNA fibres. After 100 hours of X-Ray exposure she got an important picture of the DNA Fibre known as Photograph 51. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick used this photograph and it became the basis of the their famous model of the DNA. They won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for this discovery.
2. Learning from Ideas and Questions
Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant combine stories, research, and practical advice to help you build strength for life’s challenges—and help your family and community do the same in this conversation about their book, 𝘖𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉 (2017). It is a beautiful conversation about how you can move from a state of overwhelming paralyzing grief to being able to appreciate life in a new way. They have a great website distilling the main messages in the book.
#LearningNote - I love how you can find lectures, talks and podcasts about almost any topic under the moon today. The internet is real gold mine for people interested in ideas and the world around them. Sharing things I love on the Internet along the way!
3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blogs
Choice Awards reflect what people love reading on my favourite book social media platform, Goodreads. I find some amazing books in their yearly lists (winners and nominations). You can find some book recommendations in the 2024 list too and browse through previous year’s awards list too. I also spend a considerable time browsing through other book award lists to find more such recommendations like the Booker Prize, DSC Prize, National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
Three books I am excited to read from the list this year are:
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
This is an interesting film that looks at bio hacking and someone that practices it to an extreme. Bryan Johnson is a wealthy entrepreneur that wants to extend his life by leading the healthiest life possible in terms of diet, exercise, sleep and other body conditions. This is a glimpse of his life over a short period of time. I love how social relationships are also key to the idea of a good healthy life, as subtly stated in this film through Bryan's relationship with his son!
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
I learned a lot about building a media business in India in this TRS podcast episode. Aditi Srivastava is part of the founding team at Pocket Aces, India's leading digital media entertainment company, whose mission is to solve boredom. The company operates five socially distributed content brands: FilterCopy (short videos), Dice Media (multi-episode web series), Gobble (lifestyle videos), Jambo (young-adult animation shorts) and Nutshell (infotainment videos), as well as a direct-to-consumer platform: Loco (game streaming and e-sports app).
Thank you for reading this edition of #EducationCoffee. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. You can review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (110 past newsletters). You can send me your thoughts on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com.
Abhishek Shetty