CSHL Symposium Haikus
Monday and Tuesday marked the 26th annual Cold Spring Harbor In-House Symposium when the lab community comes together to hear research updates from half of the faculty. As corny as it sounds, I think that the couple days before leaving to spend Thanksgiving with family is the perfect time to celebrate the scientific progress of our colleagues. During last night’s banquet, as we gathered around to hear David Spector’s Symposium top ten list, there was a palpable sense of gratitude. It’s a tradition I’ll miss when I leave CSHL.
Anyway, I was the chair for Tuesday’s morning session, and had to scramble for something creative to do for my introductions. Swinging away from the previous day’s “roast” I decided (for some reason) to do haikus. Here they are for the speakers; you can click on the photos to read about each lab’s research.
Tom Gingeras
Across vast stretches
The genome yields not protein
What does it ENCODE?
Justin Kinney
More than location
The promoter sequence charts
The cost of binding
Grisha Enikolopov
In the zone they wait
Until spark disrupts slumber
A neuron is born
Adrian Krainer (avid volleyball player)
Bump, set, spliceosome
Better to skip than be skipped
Whose alternative?
Ivan Iossifov
The truth is out there
Unlock the text, give structure
From many labs, one
Leemor Joshua-Tor
Diffracting crystals
Bare structures, mechanisms
In purple-walled rooms
-Eugene Plavskin
Particles and Waves
Interfere, Diffract, and Give
Crystal clear answers
-Jonathan Ipsaro
Here are some more haikus from Symposium attendees:
Sciopic 
Love this! Also, I just stumbled across your blog and have been enjoying it in general. Keep up the good blogging!