it’s appropriate to be cautious inthe midst of raw sewage. In 2001,The EPA also found itself introuble after declaring GroundZero air clear, soon after theSeptember 11th attacks. Localofficials later heaped criticism onthe EPA for that call. Even thoughthe air was within normal limits,noxious dust coated buildings —and poorly protected cleaningcrews were sent in to clean upthat mess after the EPA’s all-clear.

It’s also true that the early watertests might not end up telling thewhole story, as the Los AngelesTimes noted. “Environmentalofficials are also concerned thatchemicals might be flowing offfive Superfund sites — among thenation’s most hazardousdumpsites — near New Orleans.One Superfund site, theAgriculture Street landfill, remainsunderwater. A cleanup occurredthere in 2000, but some residueremains and the EPA has not triedto assess whether contaminantshave flowed off the site.”

Once the Army Corps ofEngineers turned its attention topumping the grimy waters out ofthe city of New Orleans and intoLake Pontchartrain, many newsreports speculated that body ofwater would be despoiled, as well.But, again, that’s not what actualdata showed. A National PublicRadio reporter followed along ona boat trip to monitor the lake.The scientists found bacteria inone plume in excess of swimmingstandards — but being dilutedquickly in this vast body of water.“Bacteria weren’t the onlyconcern, but so far, tests haven’tshown dangerous levels of toxicchemicals like oil products,pesticides or heavy metals. Also,the lake isn’t a lake at all, but abay connected to the Gulf ofMexico. Over time, thecontaminates will be flushed outinto the Gulf,” the reporter said.

It’s true that dilution is not thesolution to pollution. But in thiscase, as logic would dictate, itcertainly helped.

Richard F. Harris is a sciencecorrespondent at National Public Radioand past president of the NationalAssociation of Science Writers. E-mail: rharris@nasw.org

Current Biology Vol 15 No 20R816

Q & A

Russell Foster Russell Foster is Professor ofMolecular Neuroscience within theFaculty of Medicine at ImperialCollege London. His researchspans basic and applied circadianand photoreceptor biology. Hereceived his education at theUniversity of Bristol under thesupervision of Brian Follett. From1988–1995 he was a member ofthe National Science FoundationCenter for Biological Rhythms atthe University of Virginia andworked closely with MichaelMenaker. In 1995 he returned tothe UK and established his groupat Imperial College. For hisdiscovery of non-rod, non-coneocular photoreceptors he hasbeen awarded the Honma prize(Japan), Cogan award (USA), andZoological Society Scientific &Edride-Green Medals (UK). He isthe co-author of “Rhythms of Life”a popular science book oncircadian rhythms.

What turned you on to biologyin the first place? I can’tremember a time when I was notinterested in biology. My earliestmemories are of collecting fossilsand insects or just watching birds.I was given a simple monocularmicroscope for my seventhbirthday and was irritated that myeyelashes kept on getting in theway when I looked down the eyepiece. So I cut off my lashes. Mymother explained that eye lasheshad a purpose and that I shouldlearn to use the microscopeproperly. I did, but still have atendency to opt for the pragmaticsolution! The Natural HistoryMuseum in London was arelatively short train ride fromwhere I grew up, and I was oftentaken to the Museum on a Sundayand simply allowed to wanderaround the huge, and then almostempty, galleries. I loved the placeand it allowed me to fuel myinterests. Many of the old displaycases have long gone, but I stilltry and visit as often as I can. Thenew animated T-rex can keep memesmerised for hours.

Were you a good student? Iloathed school and hated beingtold what to do. I was not naughtybut just tuned-out. When I wasplaced in remedial classes thepenny finally dropped. I realisedthat unless I made some effort atformal education I would be toldwhat to do for the rest of my life. Iadmire my children enormouslyfor appreciating this conceptmuch earlier in life. During Collegeand University, I discovered I hadsome ability in the laboratory. Iloved doing experiments andthinking about the results. Healthand Safety regulations were notso tight, and I almost lived in thelabs following up observationsmade in class. I was, however,much less enthusiastic aboutcramming for exams!

What advice would you offersomeone wondering whether tostart a career in biology? Aneducation in biology provides avery valuable training to thinkabout complex issues in general.Biology requires that you integrateobservations, often over largesubject areas, and provide asynthesis. Providing coherence tooverwhelming bits of informationsets you up for almost anyoccupation or task that requiresreasoning. Many of my friends,after their B.Sc., or even Ph.D.degrees in biology, went off andmade a success in management,finance and the law. A real careerin biology, however, demands anoverwhelming passion to know‘why’ and ‘how’ — for its ownsake. I think you have to be just alittle bit obsessed!

How did you get involved inresearch on circadian rhythms?Brian Follett gave superbundergraduate lectures oncircadian rhythms. In one lecturehe described how birds usephotoreceptors deep within theirbrain to detect the increasingdaylengths of spring to triggerreproductive events. At first thisseemed absolutely crazy — howcould light even reach aphotoreceptor deep within thebrain? But of course, most tissuesare remarkably permeable to light.You only have to place your handover a simple battery torch in thedark to convince yourself of that.The filtered and scattered lightpenetrating deep into the brain ofa bird is useless for imagedetection but is ideal for gainingan impression of the overallamount of light in theenvironment, and hence the timeof day. In the late 1970s and early1980s almost nothing was knownof the cellular location orphysiology of these receptors, andthis became the subject of myPhD. By using actionspectroscopy we established thatthese encephalic receptorsemploy an opsin/vitamin A-basedphotopigment system, and wepublished this result in Nature in1984. This was an incrediblyexciting time and stimulated mygeneral interest in how biologicalclocks are regulated by light indifferent groups of animals, notleast the mammals. Briansupported my travels to a range ofdifferent laboratories, mostnotably Horst Korf in Giessen andWim DeGrip in Nijmegen, to learntechniques to investigate thesephotoreceptors further. Thefriends made then are still friendstoday.

Why did you decide to move tothe USA? I won a WAINFellowship to work with MichaelMenaker in 1987 at the Universityof Virginia. Virginia was, and stillis, a centre for much research incircadian rhythms; I had awonderful time and was offered ajob at the end of the threemonths. A move to Virginiaseemed like the natural thing todo. The stunning beauty of theUniversity campus and the

surrounding Blue RidgeMountains was an added bonus.Many lines of research andcollaborations were started in1988; one of the most excitingstudies was with Martin Ralph andMike Menaker. This work providedthe final proof that thesuprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) inthe anterior hypothalamus is themaster circadian clock ofmammals. It was accomplished bytransplanting the SCN frommutant hamsters with a shortcircadian period — 20 hours andnot 24 — to SCN lesioned hosts.The period of restored rhythm wasthat of the mutant donor SCN. Wegot the cover of Science, althoughthe image I provided waspublished upside down! My maininterest, however, was in how lightaligns/entrains circadian rhythmsto the geophysical day.

What is the best advice you’vebeen given? In the late 1980s andearly 1990s, while I was still atVirginia, we had strong evidencethat the vertebrate eye containsanother class of light receptor —different from the well-known rodand cone cells. This ideagenerated quite a hostileresponse at meetings and fromthe referees of our papers andearly grant proposals. Thereasoning was that the eye hadbeen the subject of serious studyfor some 150 years and it wasinconceivable that a newphotoreceptor system could havebeen missed. Starting in 1998, in aseries of Nature, Science andCurrent Biology papers, we finallydemonstrated that inner retinalneurons are light-sensitive in bothfish and mammals. This may nothave happened, however, if I hadnot been advised in 1993 by avery distinguished vision scientistat a meeting to: “stop thisnonsense and work on somethingsensible”. From that point I felt Ihad something to prove, and Ifocused exclusively on this topic.

How have you benefited fromyour time in different researchenvironments in differentcountries? The most strikingbenefit for me was learning firsthand that there is no single way todo good science, and that

management styles, from theutterly relaxed to themicromanaged laboratory, can allwork. There is one commondenominator for all successfulresearch environments, however,and that is a collective enthusiasmfor the subject material. Thisreminds me of a job interviewquestion I was asked in 1987before I moved to Virginia: “Dr.Foster, would you continue withyour gallivanting around the worldif you were to be appointed here”.I knew I was supposed to say“no”, but the stupidity andpomposity of the questioncompelled me to respond: “Yes,gallivanting is a way of life forme!” I was not offered the job.

Do you think scientists doenough to promote the publicunderstanding of science? Isuspect that most, if not allscientists now contribute to thepublic understanding of scienceat some level. This activeengagement has undoubtedlycontributed to the finding of arecent (March 2005) MORI‘Science in Society Poll’ in the UK:“Over 80% of adults think sciencemakes a good contribution tosociety ……56% of UK adultshave taken part in science-basedactivity in the last year, outsidework.” There is no room forcomplacency, however. Oneexample is the introduction bycreationists of ‘Intelligent Design’into some US schools under theguise of science. I think thescience community should bevery proactive over this issue andtake every opportunity to explainwhy Intelligent Design is not ascientific theory and that it has noplace in the teaching of biology.

Your ambitions? To write a paperthat gives me undiluted pleasure.So that when I re-read it 10 yearsafter publication there is nothing Iwould want to change or correct.Failing that, spend less of my lifedoing important tasks at the lastminute!

Department of Visual Neuroscience,Division of Neuroscience & MentalHealth, Faculty of Medicine, ImperialCollege London, Charing CrossCampus, St Dunstan’s Road, LondonW6 8RF, UK.

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