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CHAPTER 3 • COMMUNICATION 37

your local newspaper has a science or medical

writer (and sound deeply shocked if you are

told that they do not). You want to introduce

yourself to the editors or TV news producers

who coordinate science/health coverage and

convince them that a big amorphous “nation-

al” story like the human genome has a local

angle and a local face. That face does not have

to be your face. Suggest names and numbers.

Talking on science policy issues requires

support. Consult websites such as the ASCB’s

that has the Society’s statements and back-

grounds on such issues as stem cells, fetal tis-

sue and genetically modified foods.

There’s professional danger here and a fair

amount of thankless work. You can be mis-

understood. You can be ignored. But there’s

an even greater danger in biologists speaking

only to other biologists. We can make great

and unexpected discoveries in the lab only to

discover that the world doesn’t recognize a

unicorn when it sees one. ■

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY