Receiving a Nobel Prize is a pretty big deal. Alfred Nobel famed Swedish industrialist and innovator in the field of high explosives stated in his will, that his fortune was to be invested in an interest-bearing fund. The moneys earned from said fund were to be divided into five equal parts and distributed annually as prizes to those who gave the greatest benefit to humankind. Awards were to be — and still are — conferred for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and for contributions towards the advancement of peace.
So, in a world that has many challenges — food security, global warming, pandemics and disease, to name just a few — it’s not unreasonable that a Nobel prize was conferred to the scientists who discovered an accurate and specific method for gene editing, genetic engineering so to speak. CRISPR, pronounced “crisper”, stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, simple wonder they created an acronym for it. Derived from the internal biomolecular mechanics of bacteria, this technology imparts an amazing amount of specificity and accuracy for scientists wishing to insert, remove or replace genes or DNA sequences in the genetic code of an organism.
Suddenly disease-causing genes can be edited out and replaced. Blood disorders like Thalassemia or sickle cell anaemia, diseases affecting millions, can enter the realms of the curable. Cystic fibrosis, disappeared, muscular dystrophy cured, cancer a thing of the past all because of this amazing technology. Vaccines for COVID, toxic chemical eating microbes for land remediation, not to mention the ability to create disease, drought and pest resistant high yield crops that could and can feed vast and hungry populations, all because of CRISPR - amazing!
Yes, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier were presented the Nobel Prize for Chemistry because of this truly paradigm shifting breakthrough. Sadly, in the past, when such stories of momentous discoveries were read, in the absence of gender defining information, the default has been to presume the discoverers were men.
In the annals of science there are many heroes forgotten because of their gender. Lise Meitner discovered nuclear fission. Rosalind Franklin determined the helical shape of DNA. Jocelyn Bell Burnell first detected pulsars. Katherine Johnson solved the intricate equations that put the first humans into space…without a computer…by hand! The recognition they now receive is belated, but hopefully not too late to make a difference.
Inclusion and equality are part of our DNA here at Eddies. They are not something that needs to be spliced in or taken out with advanced technology. We seek to nurture an environment that sustains these founding tenets in our community. Whether in societal structures, or in unconscious bias or from unthinking hurtfulness in the use of language, inequality must be held as unacceptable.
So, this week in celebrating International Women’s Day we recognise that regardless of gender we are all a gift to each other. Given the legacy of inequality derived from the past and that still exists today, we ask our young men to recognise the important place and significant contributions of women in our society. Our Touchstones of Inclusive Community, Justice and Solidarity, Liberating Education and Gospel Spirituality set the scene for young men to develop into strong, kind and gentle men, confident in who they are and who will make a difference. A difference that will contribute in ways that lead to overcoming societal prejudices and implicit biases or perhaps to preventing unthinking yet hurtful language when hanging around with mates. Our Eddies Men are challenged always to ensure respect and equality for all. One oh so important step - to ensure respect and equality for women, as mothers, sisters or friends, as colleagues and co-workers, as equal partners and co-creators of a world that will be collectively and inclusively theirs.
AIC Swimming
Well done to our AIC Swimming Team. COVID and weather events created a difficult and interrupted lead-up. I cannot fault however, their commitment and participation on the day. They gave their all and the College is proud of their efforts.
Year 10 Leaders
On Friday we inducted our Year 10 Junior Leaders. These young men have the chance to work with the Senior House Leaders as well as House Deans to develop leadership skills in service of their peers.
I would like to congratulate the following young men on their formal Induction as Junior Leaders of the College.
• Jared Lauron, Hayden Moloney – Ambrose House
• Talon Campbell, Cruz Boxsell – Callan House
• Ryan White, Harry Winrow – Elliott House
• Dominic Oddi, Jed Wilson – Finn House
• Rhys Cash, Zyrus Talaba – Ignatius House
• Godwin Augustin, Conrad Browne – Morgan House
• Bill Stewart, Dieter Johnson – Rice House
• Brandon Davis, Isaac Christensen – Treacy House
Restriction Relaxation
Last Friday 4 March saw a relaxation of some of the COVID restrictions that have very much become a part of everyday life. While vaccine mandates are still in place for workers in high-risk settings, face masks are no longer required in schools and there as been a relaxation of capacity limits to venues.
Eddies is a community where we value physically being in each other’s presence rather than interacting virtually over Teams or Zoom. We are now able to have large gatherings such as meetings and assemblies and commence re-establishing the connections that we so sorely missed (so nice to see faces again!).
I look forward to the imminent return of parents, caregivers and visitors to our many community events on campus. Welcome back!
