Lindau Meetings: Tim Hunt on Systems Biology

The video, which in the spirit of the meetings has an aim to promote science discovery and engagement by getting young students in touch with the role models and gurus of the world (the Nobel laureates), starts with a bang — amid a paradoxical, even ironic one. Here are a group of optimistic students with unfettered access to the greatest scientists of the last few generations, a sure delight and bound to be an interesting exchange. But while portraying these superb viewpoints from the picturesque and seemingly thrilling Lindau setting, Hunt's voiceover anchors it all with some wisdom: "Not rocket science, you just have to do the experiment, and that's all there is to it. But, actually doing it is unbelievably hard work, miserably depressing most of the time, and very, very hard."

So, fellow students, we have been warned: Science is hard and depressing. If this came from the mouth of someone else, maybe I wouldn't have cared, but from a Nobel Prize winner, it does make me think whether I'm fit for the job. I always envisioned the life of a scientist as unbelievably cool, super geeky, and excitingly exciting. Hard work? Of course! The demands of life as a science student alerted to me to this pretty fast. But depressing? That's quite motivating, thank you.

The conversation that later ensues between Hunt and two students, Roland and Sophia (who are interested and involved with systems biology), is actually very interesting and not what I expected. Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of anything related to biochemistry, but I see how systems biology revolutionized science. As we discover that more and more molecules interact with one another, the list seems to grow infinitely. These interactions ultimately give rise to the functions of a system, so it makes sense to me that instead of studying molecules such as proteins individually, studying them and their interactions as a group and as part of a bigger picture has potentially more value. Indeed, in biological systems, the molecules are in a diverse medley with other molecules, so the results of systems approaches, at least on paper, would possibly be more relevant to how molecules work in their natural environments.

Systems biology is a relatively new concept though, and Hunt makes it clear he isn't too fond of it. He has his reasons (and elaborates on them well in the video), but I can't help feeling that systems biology is something for our generation. This question of its value illustrates exactly how fast science has moved in the span of one generation. The students explain how the holistic approach of systems biology may be no less than a paradigm shift, but Hunt finds the approach of systems biologists cumbersome and lacking in conclusion. Hunt isn't from the generation of Google and high-speed Internet; it's no surprise that a new field which relies so heavily on screening, coding, and long lists of information will not quite cut it for him. Is it a generation gap or is it a real departure from the way science is done? Only time will tell.

But however fast science moves and however overwhelming it might seem, people like Hunt, with his amiable disposition and curious mind, will always inspire new generations of scientists. I see science as an evergreen work-in-progress which builds on past work, but the scientific principles and the goals of science remain the same. Its core is untouched and this links all scientists together, irrespective of the generation gap or gaps in experimental techniques. Hunt is a brilliant scientist who pushed the frontiers of humankind's knowledge further and as such, he is a model for us, the aspiring scientists-to-be. I am not demoralized, just choking down some hard medicine and realizing it's not so bad.