This morning I was in a class again after 3 years. Prof. Hiten Madhani was invited to give a short course on Yeast genetics at my workplace. As he walked us through the basics of cell division in yeast and the familiar figure of the cell cycle came up, I was trasnsported back to a class 8 years ago with AB. That's where it all began- my fascination with the cell division machinery, the check point regulation in the cell cycle, its de-regulation and cancer cell biology, biochemical signaling mechanisms in tumor progression, drug target identification, drug synthesis, biocatalysis in the synthesis of drug intermediates, biocatalyst and genetic engineering...an evolution of my own interests as I joined the molecular evolution campaigners.
The one hour class summarized for me everything I love and revere about being a classroom; to opening myself up completely to receive knowledge as it is delivered masterfully; a story unfolding in front of my very eyes, building with each slide a surge of excitement, until a very simple and elegant truth underlying the most complex biological phenomena (or for that matter physical or chemical) is revealed. It is sheer joy, made especially delicious by a teacher who engages the student intimately in unraveling the mystery, guiding each student to the discovery, each owning the truth at that instant. It is, as well, humbling to be led through this path of discovery by teachers who have already conceieved of every turn our minds will take as we digest the material, even more so, by those who guide us gently and expertly as we attempt to probe uncharted territory.
I recognized arising in me the same sense of wonderment today as Prof. Madhani described the process of meiosis. I was already shaking my head, marevling at this brilliant orchestration that cells conduct when he conluded by saying 'It is simply the most amazing mechanism in the biology of cell division, to at once replicating genetic material as well as generating new diversity.' Truly a fantastic process. And certainly my favorite hour of the work week, in a classroom again.
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