‘And which biological phenomenon do you find most fascinating?’

I smiled down the camera at Leanne at one of her Biology in Action events. My answer, like most vaguely academic things I say, was a mosaic/ garbling of facts from so many of the scientists I’d heard from in my life, mixed with my own manic energy and blind love of biology –

‘Cell division,’ I say.

You might think this a bit of a boring, or textbook response, but honestly the division of cells has mystified and captivated me since I can remember.

‘Since the origin of life – the very first cell that lived on this planet, our cells have been on an endless march. Dividing, reproducing. Since that first cell, there is an unbroken chain of cell division that has given rise to every cell in your body now. It’s an ancient process, and we are ancient beings.’ I say – or words to that effect.

And cell division is beautiful. The microtubules grow out like the branches of a tree, grab the chromosomes and drag them into their new nuclei like a carefully choreographed, wiggly dance. For a moment, before this happens, the chromosomes, hang out, all lined up like the animals going into Noah’s ark, and whilst standing there, they almost look like they’re breathing. In fact – biologists call this process – where the chromosomes ebb and flow – breathing. Isn’t that lovely? This DNA, these proteins, this chemical stuff inside us, it’s alive and it breathes.

I continued my day of learning at Biology in Action, gobbling down the information. I feel like the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I just can’t get enough of biology. It’s delicious, and I am ravenous for the learning.

There’s Professor Laurence Hurst* – evolutionary biologist from University of Bath – who led us around all the incredibly wild sexual adaptations seen in birds and mammals. Did you know – for example – how rare it is for animals to have sex in private? Humans are the only primates that do it. The only other example he mentioned was the Dunnock, a little brown bird who has secret sex behind a bush with beta males. It got me wondering – are all human men beta mates?

And he spoke about the evolution of breasts. Again, humans are a very rare example of an animal with enlarged breasts even when they are not breastfeeding. Por que!? My limited research suggested maybe to protect babies from suffocating. Prof Hurst suggested they may be acting like a camel’s hump to conserve energy – a rather fabulous daft idea. Do we keep our boobs to confuse paternity and protect offspring from males? And then why are all our boobs such different sizes? So many questions.

And I go on – his research into the evolution of human mating throughout our menstrual cycle is deliciously informative. Again – no other mammal does this. It’s thought that the deposition of sperm into our vagina allows our immune system to prime and ready itself for pregnancy. By acclimatising to the sperm antigens, our immune system is less likely to go bonkers and give us pre-eclampsia when we get pregnant. Such an interesting take – and one I must dive into further. But not now in this blog, for risk of making your head, dear reader, shrivel from the tedium.

And there’s Dr Tim Lamont, enlightening us on all the adorable noises that fish make on coral reefs. Did you know fish make lovely noises? Wail, cry, sing, click their teeth together. They’re a chatty bunch, it transpires – and Dr Lamont uses that information to guide conservation.

James Piercy gave us a wonderful tour of tech that will enhance our ability to look after patients who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. I very much felt the weight of my doctor hat during his talk – recognising and diagnosing subarachnoid haemorrhages remains one of the scariest and most pertinent parts of being a doctor.

Dr Helen Pilcher’s talk was an absolute party for the senses. Her exploration of the de-extinction process evoked literally all of the emotions. Excitement and hope for conservation. Fear and disgust at misuse of animals in research. Contemplation and concern for the ethics of the whole thing. I’m a geneticist and I learnt LOADS from her talk, even though it was aimed at A level students! I’ve read a lot of her stuff, you could say – yes you could definitely say – I’m a huge fan.

After my years as a doctor, I remain more convinced than ever of the power of the mind. Notwithstanding**, of course you must never ever understate or undervalue the power of actual physiological disease within the human body – but the brain is connected to everything after all. It’s plumbed in to it all. And perhaps remarkably, perhaps obviously – feeding the brain certain information or stimuli can also guide the path of health and disease. I can’t wait to explore these ideas more when I read Dr Pilcher’s book.

And then to my talk. After keeping my head down on the wards for so long it’s been a while since I’ve spoken to so many young bright minds. What a fantastic, engaged audience they were. My new passion fuses my interests of epigenetics, evolution, development and cancer. I’m interested in comparing different species – which get cancer and which don’t – to inform and guide our research.

I realised, many years ago, that I’m obsessed with Stuff. Things. Phenomena. Again, another half-garbled sentence I’ve stollen from another academic. In this case, comedian and science communicator Simon Watt. I saw him first on Inside Nature’s Giants, and was delighted to see somebody as excited by Stuff In Biology as I am. And when I met him whilst on the comedy circuit – he put it perfectly. We’re in love with biological phenomena. We can’t get enough of it.

Gobble gobble gobble. I continue to nibble at academic papers, rinse the minds of academics with persistent questions, and incessantly attempt to insight scientific conversations with my nearest and dearest.

Still a Very Hungry Caterpillar, hopefully one day a butterfly***.

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*Another to add to your reading list, ‘The evolution of imperfection: the science of why we aren’t and can’t be perfect’ by Professor Laurence Hurst

** Yes, I did just use the word ‘Notwithstanding’, yes it did give me a sense of superiority and no I am not sure what it means or if I used it correctly

***I am digging for complements, I will now nervously wait for somebody to tell me that I am, in fact, a butterfly *sits back and sips tea*