Sean Carroll's Mindscape Big Picture Scholarship

The two consistent fascinations that I have held for as long as I can remember are science and the arts. My days as a child were spent exploring the biodiversity of my backyard and the forest right behind it, and at night I marveled at the stars, imagining all the possibilities of worlds beyond our own. When I had to be inside, I would draw scenes of nature– sometimes witnessed by my own eyes and sometimes fabricated from stories of long-extinct creatures or animals I saw in books and television. I would also draw monsters and aliens of all sorts, trying to account for as much ‘science’ as possible when designing them. This is a fairly universal experience for children, which we associate with a flexible imagination and ability to easily be amazed. However, as I moved into adolescence, I did not find myself growing out of this childlike wonder. I retained my ability to feel overwhelming emotion at things as simple as veins on a leaf or the sensation of my own heartbeat. I continued to design and write about possible alien worlds, carefully designing their ecology, biology, and phylogenetics to ‘make sense’ as I learned more. I began to write prose and poetry informed by my passion for nature. My interests made it harder to relate to my peers, but I knew that my calling was to be an artist and a scientist; in fact, I believe that these labels are highly intertwined. Art and science, broadly, are the most noble, universal, and unique endeavors undertaken by humanity. Art brings people together, and science improves our world in tangible ways. Both disciplines increase our awareness of self, others, and our physical world. I am certain that my calling in life is to participate in their intersection. I am confident that I can apply my creativity combined with my ability to grasp the complexities of molecular biology to study evolutionary developmental biology, furthering humanity’s understanding of our planet’s awe-inspiring biodiversity, as well as our place within it. I have a strong belief that the more we learn about our own origins, whether it be on a cosmic or species-level scale, the more likely we will be to respect our fellow humans and our beautiful planet. The first scientific concept I truly fell in love with was evolution from common descent. I first heard about it in my strictly religious middle school in Alabama, which was required at the time to teach us about evolution– however, my teacher made sure to express her disdain with the requirement to teach it, and assured us that it was not true. My interest was piqued, though, and in the following years I went on to read all sorts of books and watch every publicly available documentary I could find on the topic. Sean B. Carroll’s "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" was particularly poignant. When I took my first developmental biology class in college, I was hooked. The grandiosity of it; the way it made sense, but the scale was incomprehensible to the human mind; the implication that every single tree, insect, and microbe I crossed paths with was intimately connected to me through common ancestry and developmental patterns– the only phrase I can use to describe my experience is that I fell in love. The most incredible blessing of my life has been to study molecular biology and actively participate in research toward understanding it. But in my eyes, my personal ambitions to be a successful researcher and artist are secondary. My first obligation is to use my gifts to help others experience the enrichment of learning science. There is a science literacy crisis in America. This fact is especially true in my home, the American South. The crisis is exacerbated by a general distrust of science encouraged by some of my home’s most popular political and social leaders. Every day, I witness people in my generation flippantly dismiss the words of scientists. This is not inconsequential. Effective science communication is absolutely essential for public health, curbing the climate crisis, racial and gender equality, and reducing anti-LGBTQ sentiments. It is no coincidence that the South, especially the rural South, has problems in all of these areas. I believe that the root of these issues is low-quality education– a consequence of culture and lack (or misuse of) financial resources. I know that my community is not inherently less intelligent. Low-income farmers and blue-collar workers from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are the origin of my academically-inclined brain. I believe in the people of my community, and my true calling, alongside evo-devo research, is to make science more accessible and trusted in my home. This starts with making science engaging to young students! This is where the big picture comes in. In my second semester of college, I began working as a learning assistant in my university’s introductory biology course, and swiftly came to a conclusion, inspired by the sentiments of the professor I worked for: it is ineffective and boring to teach science as a collection of facts. I believe we need to re-frame the way that we teach science to emphasize its status as a logical and creative endeavor, and we need to teach it in the context of the big picture. Physics, chemistry, and biology are not abstract collections of facts and equations– they are present in every aspect of our lives, in every breath and heartbeat. My goal is to one day teach biology in a southeastern university, and when I teach introductory courses, I hope to intertwine creativity, philosophy, and art into my lectures and course content. I plan on incorporating small assignments for my students–whether it be prose, poetry, or visual art–to connect the content we cover back to the big picture, and induce them to ponder the broader implications of what they learned. I hope to assign readings from excerpts of inspiring literature and philosophy that are informed by science, and prompt my students to ask questions, construct their own hypotheses, and design theoretical experiments to test them– all tasks that require creative thinking. It is a fact that not everyone will be interested in science, but I am certain that this method of teaching will pique the interest of at least some talented minds that otherwise would have overlooked it as ‘boring’ or ‘too hard’. Although I plan to teach at the university level, I believe this method would be best employed in grade and high school. Hopefully, with hard work and dedication, I can gain the credentials and influence to share this strategy with school teachers from all over the country. With more accessible and high-quality science education, it can be expected that higher levels of open-mindedness, critical thinking, and self awareness will follow. These traits are the precursors to societal change for the better. Of course, I believe all knowledge is inherently valuable, even outside of how it can improve our connections to our place in the universe and each other. It is just cool to learn how everything works. It gives one a sense of gratefulness that is sometimes hard to find elsewhere. I am grateful every day that I get to be a human– the one animal on this planet that can comprehend molecular biology, astronomy, and organic chemistry. I know my life’s mission is to catalyze this realization in as many people as possible, so that their lives may benefit from it as mine has.

Innovation is defined as the introduction of new ideas. To me, innovation is defined as the broadening of our understanding of the universe. In doing so we open ourselves to new possibilities and more questions feeding back into the innovative process. A large part of understanding humanity is what drives innovation. By understanding these causes we can better understand humanity as a whole, the universe, and our place within it. Some say innovation is driven by competition. Examples of this are the world wars and the Space Race. Conversely many argue for collaboration as seen with the International Space Station. Innovation in the sciences is astonishing in that one innovation in one sector supports advances within the others. For instance, the MRI machine which has saved lives greatly improved the process of medical diagnoses and required the invention of superconductors. The physicists behind superconductors had no idea that later on their research would go on to create a life-saving machine they only knew they were advancing their field. In this roundabout way innovation in any field of science is important for its impact could cascade into many benefits for society. For me, the main drivers of innovation are collaboration and curiosity. By finding new, better, and safer ways to send people to space various new technologies are invented. These inventions can then impact other innovations across different fields and disciplines supporting science as a whole. By staying curious humanity has and will continue to innovate. Curiosity cannot be fully explored without collaboration. Collaboration is a product of diversity which allows for a multitude of experiences and ideas to be shared culminating in a more creative ideation process. In turn, well-thought-out solutions to problems can be developed. Curiosity and collaboration are tools that can be applied to solve problems in the world. In that way, they drive innovation and are an important component of humanity. My dream is to become a professor to not only drive my field of interest in computer engineering but also inspire others to take up research and broaden their chosen field thus broadening humanity’s collective knowledge of the universe. As a researcher, I plan to study machine learning and how it is implemented into the development of computer parts such as central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processors (GPUs). Advances in computer hardware will improve the training and thus the capabilities of AI models. This also reduces the energy consumption and environmental impact of AI models. This topic is significant to me because AI is a revolutionary technology and as it advances it will have greater and greater impacts across the tech industry and society.

The complexity of our universe is frequently discussed along with the mechanism of diverse life forms on Earth. Numerous principles of philosophy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology have fascinated scholars for centuries. As a student in the field of molecular cell biology, I have been convinced that the mechanisms of life on this planet resonate with the universe. It has been more than three billion years since the first polypeptide dissolved in the ocean was given life. The biosphere of the Earth, ecosystem, evolution, interspecies community, cellular functions, molecular mechanisms, genetics, and the galactic network of neurons in the brain seem almost too complex for us to fully understand. Just like the sun gives its orbiting planets energy, primary producers provide us with dietary organic matter so that other organisms can thrive. Just like stars die and gases form nebulas, organisms die and spread organic particles for the next generation to re-flourish. Some phenomena are often explained by the same concept of mathematics being aligned with certain patterns. Good examples are the Fibonacci sequence and the logistic map in chaos theory. I shuddered from excitement when I found the graph of atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm of the heartbeat, resembles other graphs of population dynamics, dripping water, and the convection of fluid. The Fibonacci sequence appears in many concepts of biology such as the growing number of branches of a tree, blood vessels, the golden ratio, and so on. The most important thing about philosophy is that we humans always come to these questions: “Why do we exist?” This question is also associated with a question: “Why does our universe exist?” My Iranian mathematics professor once told me that Avicenna, who was an ancient Islamic philosopher, said, “I learned everything to realize that I know nothing.” Through curiosity, we have made no compromises in our quest to unravel the universe we live in. And this will continue in the future. I argue that it is essential for us to work together to understand the nature of the universe to a more excellent degree because it will enrich the underlying philosophy of science that is the strongest source of our motivation and ambition for unknowns. If we were not philosophical beings, I doubt we would have been intelligent or successful in science. I claim that our goal should not be a complete understanding of the nature of the universe but rather an aim at becoming further desperate for unknown truths because that is the driving source of our ambition by which the wisdom of human civilization is then further enhanced as well. Notwithstanding, a better understanding of our universe will lead us to a higher dimension of both science and philosophy. Thus, the second reason for working together to better understand the universe is to find an answer or answers to the questions: “Why do we exist?” “Are we alone?” and “Why does our universe exist?” I believe that this is why the highest academic degree in the world is called the Doctor of Philosophy, and we can never exclude philosophy from academic pursuits of science, literature, culture, religion, or fundamental frameworks thereof. To combine these two justifications, I claim that it is important for us to better understand our universe to better understand what we are. By the same token, I believe so because a better understanding of the universe will provide me with a way to a better understanding of myself as a form of life with metacognitive intelligence. A better understanding of our universe will take us to explorations outside of the solar system. For example, as far as I know, physicists use brilliant expressions of calculus and both the chemical and colligative properties of not only atoms but also smaller compartments such as neutrons, protons, electrons, and positrons. In string theory, each particle is made of string that is constantly vibrating. Furthermore, I see many physicists such as Michio Kaku describing how neutrinos behave in particle colliders. Nowadays, general chemistry even covers quantum mechanics to help students understand the conceptual model. I, as a college student, learned about the motion and energy of photons, quantum numbers, and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. In recent years, quantum physics has evolved rapidly. I am certain that the prototype of the quantum computer engineered by IBM and the University of California Berkeley is one of the most amazing breakthroughs in modern times as well as superconductors. In chemistry, I experienced that the understanding of equilibrium and energy outline a crucial part of science as I participated in a laboratory at a university. My comprehension of that is that anything always reaches equilibrium because our universe does not like us not following its rules. When science finds an answer to a question, the answer creates more subsequent questions. I strongly believe that a combination of physical chemistry and biology has the closest approach to uncovering the nature of our universe. By physically understanding our universe, we will be able to find a home beyond Earth. Thus, we need a better understanding of our universe to flourish on other planets. Literature takes a different approach to the philosophical questions I mentioned above. Literary contexts reveal both the individual and collectivistic persona and psychology behind our consciousness. Hence, it is necessarily important for us to incorporate not only scientific facts but also something derived from the inside of us. One thing that makes literature, especially philosophical texts quite different from science is that any scientific facts can be proven wrong and updated as we develop new theories whereas our psychology preserves its capability to perceive the feelings of other people. In the world of literature, a lot of great writers have contributed their work to the world. I define literature as anything that conveys contextual messages; therefore, literature can include scientific books, comic books, religious texts, novels, poems, sonnets, plays, movies, animations, music, photographs, and paintings. Specifically, I believe that religions represent human values and the internal ego most precisely. We have been fascinated and confused by our ability to think; nonetheless, we never have an idea of what we are, still. That is why people call upon a superior almighty existence referred to as God for their understanding of the nature of the universe. In my case, I often feel left in the void of the universe and in a puzzling labyrinth of melancholy when I try to imagine what I am. Therefore, I claim that we must work collaboratively in an effort to better understand our universe because that is going to be a singularity for us to become highly distinguished beings. Being Japanese, I have been aware of the dedication of Japanese biologists to science and how radiation can be incredibly harmful. As a biology student with an interest in physical chemistry, I hope to employ ideas of radioactivity or any electromagnetic waves radiated from isotopes interacting with life at cellular, molecular, and nuclear levels. I would like to advance the Curies' discoveries to cure and protect people from radiation sickness. By investigating the most abundant component of our universe and its relationship with us, I can indeed uncover a small aliquot of the entire soup of unknowns. As I wish our civilization could expand its exploratory range beyond Earth, I am willing to devote my lifetime to a resolution to cosmic-ray exposure from a biological perspective. That being said, I desire to discover something remarkable by which people will no longer suffer. Accordingly, I sincerely hope to become one of the pioneers in the field of molecular research in physical biochemistry to understand how organisms adapt and diversify their physiology to harmful environments in which high-frequency electromagnetic waves can cause mutagenesis. I conclude that it is certainly important for all of us to work together to gain a better understanding of our universe because that is going to give us an answer or a hint at what we are. I recall that philosophical questions referring to the nature of our universe seem easy to comprehend but centuries of science have not given us the answer yet. The simplest question in the world may be the hardest question that has never been answered perfectly. Further to what I highlighted before, we must forge our knowledge and curiosity to combine every piece of information in science, literature, and our psyche to truly understand the nature of our galactic home. In recent years, humans have confronted numerous challenges, discovered resolutions, and established new techniques, which can be the key to an advanced understanding of our universe. For instance, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Prize to three chemists and three physicists for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots and generating attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics. And a better understanding of our universe will be one of the capstones in the history of science. The underlying passion for unknowns within us will always continue to motivate us to move onward.

adenine cheats on thymine at every chance he gets with the ever-flirtatious, home-wrecking tramp of a nucleotide, uracil. Uracil doesn’t even have a stable career with his missing methyl group. No wonder every time the toxic pair cheats, they produce an RNA molecule that can be instantly degraded, sometimes by itself, hurting every other hardworking nucleotide because they couldn’t keep their hydrogen bonding tips to themselves. This unceasing sin of infidelity that erupted since before the dawn of life contrasts with the boundless beauty of the genome, inspiring me to study its properties and implications in human societies. High school was an entirely new environment I never experienced before; from the thumps of the ceiling raccoons to the laughs at my weight, I immediately felt out of my element. I couldn’t wait until I would be free from the shackles of high school—until I walked into my biology class. I was fascinated by Mrs. Mathew’s enthusiastic demeanor, biology’s central dogma plastered on her wall next to the poster emphasizing that everyone shares 99% of her DNA. After many expeditions to Wikipedia’s wonky website, where a wealth of wisdom only served to deepen my absorption into the world of genetics, I was hooked. Soon after came late rides to the library my father begrudgingly agreed to and massive books piled on my desk, so heavy I needed to wheel them around. I waded through thousands of dense pages, sometimes reading 10 pages before finding a word I recognized. Genetics was its own world, with hundreds of armored locks only opened by these fascinatingly dry books that I could not put down (figuratively, of course, because I couldn’t pick these books up in the first place). As I picked at the shackles of each lock, I understood more and more: the string of adulterous adenines and forsaken thymines married together by phosphodiester bonds promoting transcription, and thus adultery, of coding sequences and the half of the genome made of transposons, repetitive elements of the genome normally suppressed that can move between the 3 billion nucleotide pairs of the DNA double helix. Later came my summer of 18-hour days spent studying thousands of gigabytes of RNA sequences, massive lists of unfaithful As, hideous Us, and tranquil Gs and Cs found in a cell. I joined the Ge Laboratory at MD Anderson to study these transposable elements of the genome that were found to be expressed in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, representing an issue in gene regulation. The research I work on focuses on identifying how proteins regulate the expression of transposons and the circumstances and extent to which transposons are expressed in RNA, which may shed light on the coevolution of humans with microbes. Time passed differently in the lab; I was surrounded by interesting personalities and captivated by research I’d never done before, spending my nights with my lab mates and joking about our obsession with pumpkin spice lattes. Genetics is an endless world that we learn more about every day. Just today (December 15th) we learned that an allele common in people of African ancestry can introduce a PAM sequence which can lead to two dangerous diseases: sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia. Yesterday scientists identified 867 genes that can promote the survival of specific pancreatic cells. Not only is genetics fascinating, but is increasingly applicable to nearly everything, whether that be creating genetically modified tomato plants that have a higher yield or even using ancient genetic remnants of prehistoric viral infections (endogenous retroviruses) to create immunotherapy treatments for cancer. Genetics could be the key to conquering cancer, understanding the development of humanity, or even creating an artificial uterus. Genetics tells us secrets of identity, humanity, evolution, and development that could otherwise never be deduced. Although my current way to understand the nature of our universe is through genetics, there are many other ways to understand our universe whether that be quantum mechanics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, environmental science, or anthropology. Understanding the universe is not only important because it may allow us to conquer many of our world’s challenges such as global warming (which can hopefully be accomplished through technologies like the newly developed solar-collecting fabric or the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s recent ability to successfully use nuclear fission to produce energy), but also because understanding the universe is simply understanding. Learning about topics such as quantum entanglement or the multiverse is simply interesting and a way to break free from the monotony of daily life. The work of countless scientists every day helps us recognize the intricacies of the universe and better understand how these intricacies may influence us. Science tells us a story that is too enthralling for us to ever put down, bringing joy during tough times and defining how we view ourselves as well as the world around us. Through a university education, I hope to continue to learn more about the world around me. To better learn about the intricacies of the world, I hope to continue my research on transposons, especially in analyzing transposon expression during the first stages of development. I hope that my research looking at how transposons are reorganized during development can shed light on the story of human and mouse evolution, similar to Nobel Laureate Dr. Svante Pääbo’s research connecting genetics to anthropology. I hope to understand how humans can change over time and the factors that have led to many of the unique characteristics of humans. I am especially interested in understanding the development of a human’s seemingly smaller-sized corpus callosum (a connective complex between the hemispheres of the brain) even though evolution has favored a larger number of connection fibers between parts of the brain. I also hope to understand how the process of transposon reprogramming has led to the development of new alleles while keeping other important alleles intact. Beyond biology and anthropology, I hope to use my university education as a time to explore new ideas and subjects, especially quantum mechanics. I hope to work on new research on quantum computing and learn more about randomness, combining philosophy with physics. I feel that learning about quantum mechanics would reveal so much about the universe, especially when considering its implications for how we interact with the world and how we view ourselves in relation to the universe. Moreover, quantum mechanics, especially when it comes to quantum computing, could be key to understanding some major points of contention within our universe whether that be something as simple as answering the traveling salesman problem or something as complex as positioning telescopes to visualize ancient stars, galaxies, black holes, and planets. Our world is so complex and constantly fills me with new questions about myself and the universe at large. I hope to constantly question our universe and learn as much as I can. I doubt that I will know everything about the many secrets of our universe, but that is just something that I will have to come to terms with just as I have come to terms with the fact that 22% of my 223,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 nucleotides are cheating bastards.