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International Day of Women and Girls in Science

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Women have made substantial contributions to science throughout history, but their accomplishments have often been overlooked or underrepresented. A considerable gender gap has persisted throughout the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world. Despite facing numerous obstacles, including inequity and limited access to education and resources, women have persevered and made lasting impact in all scientific disciplines. To revendicate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science [1], let´s point some of their outstanding contributions.


A LOOK BACK TO SCIENCE HISTORY

One of the most famed female scientists is Marie Curie [2], the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in different fields, physics and chemistry. Curie made pioneering contributions to the study of radioactivity and was a strong advocate for the use of science to benefit society.

Another notable female scientist is Rosalind Franklin [3], who played a crucial role in discovering the structure of DNA. Franklin’s X-ray diffraction images were critical to the discovery, but, unfairly, she did not receive recognition during her lifetime and was not included in the Nobel Prize awarded for the discovery.

Recently, Sally Ride [4] and Mae Jemison [5] have made history as the first American and African American woman, respectively, to travel to space.


CUTTING-EDGE SINGLE CELL DISCOVERY LEAD BY WOMEN

One of the leading female scientists in the field of single cell sequencing is Dr. Sarah Teichmann [6], who is a pioneer in the development of novel single cell sequencing methods [7]. Dr. Teichmann is co-founder and principal leader of the Human Cell Atlas (HCA) international consortium [8], which aims to generate comprehensive reference maps of all human cells to further understand health and disease.

Mayor contributions in the field of single cell research was done by Dr. Barbara Treutlein [9]. She leads the Quantitative Developmental Biology lab, an interdisciplinary group that brings together single cell genomics, state-of-the-art imaging, and stem cell technologies to understand development, regeneration and reprogramming [10, 11]. She will be awarded the Friedrich Miescher Award 2023 [12], distinction for scientists under 40 working in the field of biochemistry.

Another notable female scientist in the field is Dr. Stefanie Grosswendt [13]. She is dedicated to study embryonic development [14] and neuroblastoma, one of the most common types of cancer in early childhood. In 2021, Dr. Grosswendt won the Berlin School of Integrative Oncology Female Independence Award for her research [15].

Despite these and other significant contributions made by women, there persists a substantial gender disparity in science and technology. According to a report by the UNESCO, less than 30% of the world’s researchers are women. Numerous studies have found that women in STEM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers [16].

It is crucial to support and encourage women in science, including the field of single cell sequencing, to guarantee that we continue to make progress. Supporting diversity and inclusion in science can lead to new discoveries, breakthroughs, and a more equitable society. In Singleron, we count with a large number of female scientists in every department that support your research with brilliant science.

As a curiosity, a Google search for the top 10 pointillism artists retrieves a list of 9 men and only 1 woman (Anna Boch). This disparity shows that gender inequality covers all aspects in our life, from sciences to art.

Hopefully we will soon reach a world where we can choose to analyze our single cell data either with Seurat [17] or with Boch.

Rosalie-Anna ‘Anna’ Boch. 1848-1936. Wheat sheaves in a summer landscape.

References

[1] https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day
[2] https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/biographical/
[3] https://www.mpg.de/11968981/rosalind-franklin
[4] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space
[5] https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mae-jemison
[6] https://www.sanger.ac.uk/person/teichmann-sarah/
[7] Mahata B. et al. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals T helper cells synthesizing steroids de novo to contribute to immune homeostasis. Cell Rep (2014). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.04.011.
[8] https://www.humancellatlas.org/
[9] https://bsse.ethz.ch/qdb/the-group/people/person-detail.barbara.html
[10] Fleck, J.S., et al. Inferring and perturbing cell fate regulomes in human brain organoids. Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05279-8
[11] Lust, K., et al. Single-cell analyses of axolotl telencephalon organization, neurogenesis, and regeneration. Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abp9262
[12] https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/portrait/latest-honours-and-prizes/2023/02/barbara-treutlein-receives-renowned-friedrich-miescher-award.html
[13] https://www.mdc-berlin.de/grosswendt
[14] Grosswendt, S., et al. Epigenetic regulator function through mouse gastrulation. Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2552-x.
[15] https://www.mdc-berlin.de/news/news/single-cell-researcher-stefanie-grosswendt-wins-award
[16] https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/women-science
[17] https://satijalab.org/seurat/