Sea Urchin Meeting归来，收获很多，先写一些印象深刻的吧。
【转自biowsnv.com】
1. 会议名字叫做Developmental Biology of the Sea Urchin，每一年半在Wools Hole
的MBL开一次，至今第20届，推来有30年的历史了。名字叫做Sea Urchin Meeting，其
实参加会议的还有很多做各种海洋生物的研究者。做海胆的目前没有中国大陆的PI，台
湾的前不久有了一个，日本和欧洲的不少，主要的还是北美的。北美大多数都是Eric
Davidson和David McClay的徒子徒孙们。这两位都年过七旬，会上给David McClay搞了
个简短的70岁庆祝。David每天跑步5英里，看起来就是五十多岁的样子。他亲自做实验
，micromere transfer做得是炉火纯青。Eric年纪更大些，据说因为得病，腿脚不好，
传说腿脚利索时还亲自潜水下海捞海胆。这两人自然都是大牛，文章灌水就不多说了，
Eric更是奠定了gene regulatory network的发展。当然据我老板说，最早的gene
regulatory network是建立在他的工作基础上的。
2. 上一届最火的话题是gene regulatory network，这一届更火的是Next-Generation
Sequencing。
3. 又看到了那句经典的：“It is not birth, marriage, or death, but
gastrulation which is truly the most important time in your life.” 最后会议
的龙虾聚餐后，更是颁发了一个Best Anus的奖，奖给会议上一位幽默的老学者在PPT中
展示一个漂亮的胚孔。（海胆，包括人胚孔最终是发育成肠道的开口。。。）
4. 提到这句话时，是在纪念John B. Morrill的离去。EvoDevo的大牛Mark Martindale
写了一封信来纪念他，读来让人感到一个值得尊敬的科学工作者的平凡和美丽。把信贴
在这里，供有心的同学一读。
When I first met John Morrill, and the reason I wound-up at New College in
the first place, I had what people called, “a problem with authority”. He
had probably seen hundreds of kids like me. I knew I was not the sharpest
tool in the shed, but for some reason he thought I was creative and stubborn
enough not to have to do things the same way everybody else did. He took my
rebellious spirit, passion and natural sense of curiosity and taught me
that there was a socially acceptable outlet for all that angst and it was
called critical thinking.
I have compared notes with many of John’s students over the years and most
of us had similar experiences. He taught us to trust our hands and believe
what we see. He taught us to be independent and take personable
responsibility for our ideas, education, and actions. He taught us the joy
of thinking of new ideas, making educated guesses and following them through
. He taught us that everything was wrong until proven right, but that
nothing (and nobody) was ever right because you could only prove things
wrong, and that if we could not figure out a way to deal with this, we
should find a different profession. He taught us that any argument is only
as strong as the assumptions underlying it, and that we could save ourselves
a lot of time by just starting there. He taught us that making progress by
chipping away at all the big problems is as valuable as trying to tackle
things all at once and never having anything to show for it. He taught us
that science is done by people, all kinds of different people, and that when
you find kindred spirits (like the four Qs) you should work together
because, like everything in biology (life), “the whole is more than the sum
of the parts”. He did this all without us even knowing what he was doing.
He never lectured “at” us or took credit for anything he had done. He let
us open our own doors and let us take the first steps through to the other
side.
It is obvious to me that I would never have become a scientist if I had not
taken that first cell biology class with John in my second year at New
College. I did not even know what a scientist was or that there was a way to
make a living doing it. And at the time I didn’t care. He taught me to
love the ‘process’ of doing science, to learn for learning’s sake, and I
never expected anything more out of it. It has been a long string of minor
miracles and plenty of luck that has me here today, and it certainly would
never have happened if John had not recognized something and kicked me
through that door. Thanks, John. I will be looking for you when I get to the
other side.
Mark Q. Martindale
New College 1977-1981
Professor and Director
Kewalo Marine Lab
Pacific Biosciences Research Center
University of Hawaii
John在我看来，并非师出豪门，最终也只是在一个college做faculty，但他的工作太美
丽了！他把海胆胚胎各个时期的电镜照片汇集成册，无偿分享，让人感受到胚胎发育的
美丽和奇妙。对John的敬仰之心也悠然而生。
先写到这里吧，改天有空的话研究一下如何分享这些照片。最后贴一张张牙舞爪的龙虾
，祝大家好运。^_^
【转自biowsnv.com】
