聽is聽a worldwide event in which university libraries organize events, workshops, and games to help researchers appreciate their data.聽 Love Data Week always falls on the same week as St. Valentine’s Day, and this year took place February 9-13th.聽 Every year, there is a different theme.聽 This year鈥檚 theme was 鈥淲here is the data?鈥� CSHL Library and Archives聽was聽proud to聽showcase聽some of the data from the past.聽 For the works of聽Matthew Meselson, Janet Mertz, Carol Grieder, and many others, their data ended up in the archives of CSHL. In a special exhibit displayed throughout the week,聽visitors were offered the unique opportunity to see how scientists create, collect, and organize their data.
The exhibit聽included lab聽notes, blots, pedigrees,聽correspondences, photographs,聽and other聽data. Exhibition聽highlights include:
Pedigree charts and subject forms from the Eugenics聽Records聽Office
Eugenicists employed pedigrees to bolster their claims that not only were physical traits strictly inherited as simple Mendelian characters, but so too were mental, emotional, and behavioral characteristics.
Original manuscript drafts of 鈥淭he Genetics of聽Caenorhabditis elegans鈥� (1974) by Sydney Brenner
Brenner introduced the use of the roundworm聽Caenorhabditis elegans聽as a system for tracing the birth and death of every cell in a living animal. In seeking an organism to study, he wanted an animal in which he could map the complete wiring of the nervous system and make mutations to study the function of聽an individual. Because the animal is a hermaphrodite, making mutants requires procedures that differ from those employed with, for example, fruit flies. Brenner, along with postdoctoral fellow John Sulston, unraveled how聽C. elegans聽grows and specializes in its trajectory from a single cell to a full-grown worm. Their research launched the study of many聽additional聽complex physiological phenomena, including aging, nerve cell function, and transmission of chemical signals from the outside of a cell to its inside.
Robert Waterston and John Sulston鈥檚聽C. elegans聽Research
罢丑别听C. elegans聽genome project was spearheaded by former Brenner postdoctoral fellows John Sulston and Robert Waterston, in which scientists spelled out the complete sequence of the organism鈥檚 DNA. This endeavor, completed in 1998, produced the first whole genome sequence of an animal.
X-ray Films Created by Carol Greider
These films聽were聽created聽as part of聽Greider’s research at Elizabeth Blackburn’s laboratory.聽Greider worked with the tetrahymena, a freshwater single-celled organism, chosen because it聽contains聽a large number of聽telomeres. This made the organism perfect for Greider鈥檚聽research on the聽lengthening聽of telomeres and its links to studying cancer and aging.
Corn kernels that Barbara聽McClintock meticulously聽categorized.
McClintock鈥檚 studies and observations of mutations in the kernels of maize (corn) led to her discovery of transposable genetic elements. Although the scientific community聽largely ignored聽her concepts, advances in molecular and microbial genetics聽ultimately proved聽her findings correct. She is now credited as the discoverer of transposable鈥攐r 鈥渏umping鈥濃�攇enes, a discovery which is at the very root of much of today鈥檚 research in genetic engineering.
In addition, we聽opened聽the聽rare book collection, in which visitors could view rare manuscripts聽and early editions聽of聽various topics聽surrounding the history of genetics.
罢丑别听Library聽is here to help you with organizing, sharing, and writing about your data, and even finding a place for it to go.聽聽Maybe one聽day your data will end up in the CSHL archives for future scientists to admire.
If you ever need help with data management, contact Jackie Gunther, PhD, the Research Engagement and Data Curator at the library.