About the author – Diego
My name is Diego. I am a Biologist. When I was 6 years old I went to an animatronics show about dinosaurs. I was scared senseless. But after a short time, I started asking about them. I started reading books about dinosaurs and fell in love with them. I knew all the names and classifications, the history behind their discoveries, the hypothesis about their appearance, their behavior, their evolution and their extinction. At the same time, I was drawing them, trying to emulate the real paleontologists and paleo-artists. After all, we knew about dinosaurs through those artists. I wanted to find a dinosaur, I went to the hills to dig for fossils. I knew I was not going to, our hills were older than the dinosaurs, but there were some neat trilobites. The things I read in the books checked out.
This led into a passion and love for science in general. I read science books for amateurs, from astronomy books to environmental science and conservation books and magazines. In science everything about nature could be explained, or at least we could try.
And if you doubt, do the experiment, check it for yourself.
In 1996 scientists cloned a sheep! Like they had done in Jurassic Park with the dinosaurs. That led me into wondering what was all that about. What was this DNA thing they were talking about? Was it like in the movie? How did that work? When I learned how DNA actually worked, how from molecules could emerge meaning, shapes and organisms, I was blown away. It was grader than seeing the brachiosaurus on the screen (and that had been truly glorious). But this was a real sheep. I had to do that, I had to work on something like that.
When I finished high school, I went to university at my home town of Salta, in Argentina. There I became a Biologist. After that I left for Buenos Aires to do a PhD. There I learned to manipulate DNA, I made freaking transgenic flies! I did experiments and knocked their genes down. I put fluorescent proteins in them to see their cells and organs. It was so cool.
And I got the chance to go to international meetings and listen to really incredible scientists. People working a lot and doing amazing things.
I got married to another scientist. Another fly person. A very intelligent scientist who asks questions about behavior. Because flies don’t just fly, mind you, they behave, they learn, they prefer, they choose, they search, they like and dislike. Incredible stuff. We moved to France for a postdoc. There I continued working on flies and doing what I like, Science.
And these last few years, I have been thinking a lot about this stuff. It is really amazing. I would really like to share what I have learned and for people to feel what I have felt. Because that fear I had for the dinosaurs, turned into curiosity and then into wonderment. And that is a nice feeling.
So, with a few drawings I will try. I’ll do my best. I hope you enjoy.
