I’m going to assume if you’re reading this that you are both
familiar with the alphabet and are, at minimum, through kindergarten. In that case, everyone knows that the
alphabet provides building blocks for words which, in turn, allow us to
assemble sentences and ultimately communicate with each other. One can think of DNA like the alphabet – it provides
us with building blocks in which to assemble something – namely proteins. Proteins, in my analogy, are like words. Several proteins act together to perform
certain cellular functions, much like several words come together to form
sentences.
Take for example the sentence “I look to you for love and
guidance.” Each word in the sentence is
needed to relay this loving message. Now
let’s say we slightly modify the sentence as such: “I looked to you for love
and guidance.” These words, uttered by
a loved one who has lost trust in us would certainly cause pain. All it took was one slight word modification
and the entire meaning of the sentence changed.
This is also the case with proteins.
While in their most basic form proteins are capable of performing their given
function, they also can be modified to alter their function and allow for fine
tuning of cellular processes. One
example of this is through oxidative modification of proteins. In small amounts, oxidative modifications of
proteins are essential for healthy cellular function. However, in large quantities they can be
detrimental – “I’ed looked to youed for loved and guidanced.” – rubbish!
For many of the proteins in the cell, we have a pretty good
idea of what they do in their unmodified state.
However, what happens to the protein’s function when it is modified (if
it even can be modified in that
particular way) and how that alters the overall cellular state is not fully
understood. Even more so, we are
interested in protein modifications in the context of a given disease (in our
case, oxidation of proteins during atrial fibrillation). Why do they occur? When do they occur? The ultimate goal is to identify which
modifications are bad for the cell and what causes them so that we can find
ways to prevent the modifications from occurring and hopefully prevent the
disease (or possibly reverse it if a patient arrives at the hospital with the disease already). So there you go –
my best attempt to breakdown what I do.
So why did I need to go to Oxford to do this? That’s certainly a question I’ve gotten a lot
from people. The reality is, I didn’t. There are plenty of people in the US that are
studying this question (and thank goodness there are because I’m quickly finding
there is loads to study) and in all honesty I’m sure I would have found a
postdoc with one of them just fine. But
the truth is, this is what God has always had planned for me - a truth that
hasn’t taken me long to see since arriving.
Just before leaving I did a bit of reading on culture shock,
mostly so I’d know what to expect in the first few weeks here and also to learn
ways to help deal with it. Particularly
since I knew I would be dealing with the changes on top of missing James, Grace
and Patrick I wanted to be prepared. The
funny thing is, all that reading was for nothing. I haven’t felt the slightest bit of culture
shock. Living in Oxford isn’t much different
than living in Chicago so making the transition was easy. When I realized this, that’s when I saw it! The tapestry God has woven for me. I could go on and on about all the things I
saw from my past that made this move possible, or easier, or even serendipitous
(when I was in elementary school my Aunt and Uncle gave me a University of
Oxford long sleeve t-shirt – I can’t remember why - and I remember looking at
it and saying to myself “one day I’m going to go there!”), but I won’t. All I will say is realizing this has made the
last few weeks a joy and not a challenge.
I certainly miss my family, but I have no regrets. I don’t question if this was ever the right decision
because I know in my heart it was. I
only hope that everyone reading this tries to see their own tapestry, and when
you do, stand back and revel in all its beauty instead of trying to pick at the
threads.
