Looking for Connections with Multiple Sclerosis
At seventeen I was commuting over an hour from McClean, Virginia to Bethesda, Maryland. I was accompanying Dr. Sara Szuchet on her sabbatical to the NIH to better understand proteins we suspected were involved with multiple sclerosis. At the time I thought I was blending in and that I looked like any other researcher. In hindsight, when I look at photos from that summer, I look incredibly and laughably young.
Two summers before I was in a summer course in biology at the University of Chicago. The top students were invited to return the next summer and work in a research lab. I remember looking through the different labs and decided that neuroscience looked the most interesting to me. It was a lucky choice because Dr. Sara Szuchet was a combination of precise and patient.
Oligodendrocytes resting on bundles of neurons. Oligodendrocytes coat the neurons with a layer of fat called myelin. The insulation of the neurons allows them to transmit signals efficiently. In Multiple Sclerosis the myelin insulting layer degenerates and neurons signal too slowly. Image from Regencell.
Dr. Szuchet was particularly interested in a group of cells in the brain that aren’t directly involved in signaling. These cells, called oligodendrocytes, insulate the wiring of the brain. They make sure that the neurons responsible for transmitting brain signals are able to do so efficiently. Dr. Szuchet wanted to understand how the cells develop in hopes this could shed light on what happens during disease.
When you enter a field for the first time there is an incredible freshness to each piece of knowledge gained and even each failure. I spent much of my summers at Chicago and at the NIH confused. I sat in lab meetings and read science papers where initially I understood no more than a quarter of what was being discussed. Each field has it’s own language. Biology is a particular thorny mix of acronyms and terminology. For instance a given protein might have three or four different names depending on the organism you are using to study it. Yet, through a mix of asking questions and spending time on my own following up what I didn’t understand the language began to make more sense.
Education is matter of shaping ignorance. Early on there is only so much you can understand and you are given simplifications, sometimes borderline lies. Later, you understand more. This is what I feel when I look back on my experiences with Dr. Szuchet. I was in an early stage of ignorance. I was full of excitement and learning how to shape my own ignorance.