Dr. Charlie Gersbach’s seminar was one of the most interesting talks presented during the BSURF program. What really struck me about his path to where he is now was his consideration between the environments of working in industry versus academia. He described how academia provides flexibility to study what you wish, but at the cost of spending a lot of time applying for funding. On the other hand, industry can provide funding, but for projects that are often more repetitive or lacking stimulation. It made me realize that applying what is discovered in research to the real world requires an adaptation from the mindset that was performing research, to a focus on optimization. I am considering studying biotechnology and, if I go down that path, that choice is going to be critical. Even now, there is no clear answer and I think I will need more experience in both environments for an effective consideration.
His talk also brought up the state of public policy when it comes to genetic engineering and gene editing. I was surprised to hear that editing the DNA of food does not make it a GMO. Instead, ‘foreign DNA’ must be introduced. It demonstrated that, regardless about how one feels about GMOs, there is a gap between public policy and science that needs to be resolved. This requires people trained in the sciences and who have the ability to communicate effectively to those who implement policy.
