From so simple a beginning…

It’s not everyday that you get to have a relaxed, inspirational and informal almost one-on-one chat for an hour with a Nobel Prize winner. Yet that was what it was today morning, when me and just three other students in a small room spent an hour talking about everything under the sun with Peter Agre, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Agre was here as part of the “Luminaries in Science” series organised by Emory University, which earlier also saw Andrew Fire, the 2006 Medicine laureate.

Dr. Agre’s visit was marked by three events; first, a talk by him about his prize-winning work, then an evening banquet with him, other students and faculty members, and finally today, a one hour student discussion forum. I was fortunate to be invited to attend all three events.

Dr. Agre received the prize for his discovery of aquaporins, important proteins in the human body and other organisms that facilitate the flow of water molecules. Water is so prevalent around us that we often take it for granted and cease to think of it as a wondrous substance. But wondrous it is, and one of its most important functions is in detoxifying the body through urine produced in the kidneys, which are marvels of purification systems. The human kidneys pass the equivalent of 180 liters of water everyday and filter and purify it, and much of the action is made possible by these highly efficient and unique water channel proteins called aquaporins which Dr. Agre’s group discovered. Aquaporins are also involved in general fluid balance and preventing dehydration, lubrications of body parts and tissues, and are increasingly implicated in diseases like malaria and in aging.

Peter Agre is a fabulous guy; warm, funny, extremely laid back and friendly, and exuding modesty without being falsely modest. During his talk, he made it a point to acknowledge at every step the contributions of his co-workers which made his discovery and its implications possible. It takes courage and humility to say that someone else was responsible for a key part of a prize-winning idea, yet that is the way science works and Dr. Agre was very forthcoming in highlighting the contributions of others.

But it was really the one hour “forum” today morning that was unforgettable for me. Only four of us showed up. While I felt this was a little embarrassing, it also meant that we had Dr. Agre to ourselves for one hour and that was exactly how it would turn out to be; a quiet, entertaining, rare and intimate exchange with a fine mind and person. A few minutes later, Dr. Agre arrived alone and sheepishly admitted that even he was not sure what exactly we were supposed to do. That informal beginning set the tone for the next hour’s discussion.

The discussion was extremely informal, and Dr. Agre is such a friendly and “normal” person that after a while I forgot that I was talking to a Nobel laureate. For the next hour, we talked about ourselves, he talked about himself and his life and all of us talked about science and joked around in an incredibly casual and easy-going conversation spiced with anecdotes and humour. It was as if we were discussing sports or current affairs at a friend’s place, and the extremely small group in the small room greatly facilitated the intimacy of the exchange. He asked us all about our background, what brought us to the US and our aspirations. He himself talked about his background, and how it was a lucky break that he got to investigate aquaporins; the proteins actually showed up as contaminants in another study that he was doing, and he actually had to convince the grant agency that this side-direction was worth pursuing. Dr. Agre had Alexander Fleming’s “prepared mind” and perseverance to investigate this phenomenon. In 1992, he identified the long-sought after water channel proteins and jubilation rang throughout his group. Dr. Agre also talked about his personal background, about how his parents had grown up impecunious in trying depression times, about how he was infused with the love of science in the past-Sputnik age. He is also an outdoor enthusiast, and in fact I was pleased to hear that he has been to Pune, to Mumbai, and other parts of India and Asia.

During the next hour we traded thoughts about a variety of things. We discussed the grim funding scenarios in science and the constant politicization of science in the US and lamented the lack of scientific training and therefore comprehension in almost all politicians (read his article here). He said that in this scenario, scientists have even more of a responsibility to objectively discuss scienctific issues without oversimplifying them. I told him about my blog and my simultaneous interest in communicating science, and the talk inevitably turned towards the role that the media plays in the process- almost always an unfavourable one. Dr. Agre said he is happy to talk to journalists about science and said that it is extremely important for them to report scientific facts without hyping them, a fact seldom observed. Dr. Agre asked me what I thought about Sanjay Gupta, the CNN medical correspondent who happens to be a doctor at Emory. He seemed to be very amused with Gupta, and why not! I told him candidly what I think of him; I always have thought that while he is a smart guy, he is called upon by CNN to give expert advice on every topic remotely connected to science. Surely he could not be an expert on everything?! Needless to say, Dr. Agre agreed. Almost none of the mainstream channels here do a good job of communicating science, and even now most of the science writers who do a fine job have a scientific background.

On the other hand, some of the most honest and fair reporters in the US are comedians! Jon Stewart does a much better job of reporting news than other channels. And it turned out that Dr. Agre had appeared on the Colbert Report, where Colbert had flipped his Nobel Prize medal to decide between science and religion! You can watch his interview here.

As the hour progressed, we also talked about the need for young people to go into science and about expectations of “instant gratification” that deter people from studying science. Clearly when this happens, we all lose. Dr. Agre who spent the bulk of his career at Johns Hopkins talked about the inner city youths in Baltimore who get instant gratification from heroin use without thinking about the consequences. You cannot help but get inspired by a Nobel laureate, but Dr. Agre was even more inspiring when he candidly said that as much as he likes to think of himself as the present of science, he is actually the past, and it’s the students sitting in front of him and others, who are the real future of science. When it comes to research, teaching as well as communicating science, it’s up to us.

Before we knew it, the hour was up and we had had a fantastic time. All in all, an unforgettable, immensely satisfying and extremely informal exchange with someone who is not just a great scientist, but a wonderful person.