Discover Lecture
Alvin Cheng (Cluster 10)
The second discovery lecture of the week was given by Shao Wei Chen who presented on chirality in chemistry and nanomaterial. He is currently a chemistry professor at UCSC and also teaches Cluster 2 (nanotechnology) at COSMOS. The premise of the lecture revolved around chirality, a term to describe natural asymmetry, which is derived from the Greek word for "hand". Uncoincidentally, our hands serve as a good example of chirality since our hands are clearly not symmetrical and are non-superimposable mirror images of each other. In science, molecules are identified as chiral if they lack a plane of symmetry and contain a chiral center, which is determined based on if it is bonded to four different groups that makes the mirror images different.
Before going deeper into his topic, Mr. Chen spoke about the history of chirality. In 1848, the renowned scientist, Louis Pasteur, was studying tartaric acid, which interested him as winemakers at the time was unintentionally producing the acid. He found that it had two different crystal shapes, which were mirror opposites. Within eight months of receiving his doctorate, Pasteur concluded that the tartaric acid are chiral, which according to many scientists, changed chemistry.
One of the reasons chirality was so interesting to many scientists is that one crystal chiral to another has very different properties. As an example, Professor Chen used thalidomide, a drug used to help pregnant women with morning sickness. Unfortunately, the drug caused birth defects in many patients since it was a chiral molecule with the right being effective and the left being harmful. He then described several nomenclatures of chirality depending on the molecule (i.e. D-L configurations are for amino acids and sugar). To relate chemistry to something high schoolers would understand, he used Samuel Jackson with different middle names and non-superimposable mirror images. Afterward, chirality was discussed of its real world uses such as many pharmaceutical companies use asymmetric synthesis to artificially select the better chiral object. Dr. Chen elaborated about chiral separation, which has many commercial applications, and optical properties of chiral molecules, one of them being circular dichroism. Lastly, Professor Chen ended his lecture by emphasizing the importance of chirality, its applications, and the plentiful career options!
Before going deeper into his topic, Mr. Chen spoke about the history of chirality. In 1848, the renowned scientist, Louis Pasteur, was studying tartaric acid, which interested him as winemakers at the time was unintentionally producing the acid. He found that it had two different crystal shapes, which were mirror opposites. Within eight months of receiving his doctorate, Pasteur concluded that the tartaric acid are chiral, which according to many scientists, changed chemistry.
One of the reasons chirality was so interesting to many scientists is that one crystal chiral to another has very different properties. As an example, Professor Chen used thalidomide, a drug used to help pregnant women with morning sickness. Unfortunately, the drug caused birth defects in many patients since it was a chiral molecule with the right being effective and the left being harmful. He then described several nomenclatures of chirality depending on the molecule (i.e. D-L configurations are for amino acids and sugar). To relate chemistry to something high schoolers would understand, he used Samuel Jackson with different middle names and non-superimposable mirror images. Afterward, chirality was discussed of its real world uses such as many pharmaceutical companies use asymmetric synthesis to artificially select the better chiral object. Dr. Chen elaborated about chiral separation, which has many commercial applications, and optical properties of chiral molecules, one of them being circular dichroism. Lastly, Professor Chen ended his lecture by emphasizing the importance of chirality, its applications, and the plentiful career options!
An Interview with Professor Marinovic - A Founding UCSC COSMOS Professor
Anika Wadhera
How did you become interested in becoming a founding member of COSMOS?
I was approached by the chair of my department who informed me of this new program that would teach stem related courses to academically gifted high school
students. They were trying to provide a variety of subjects in science and technology and they were interested in having a course focused on marine sciences.
How long have you been teaching at COSMOS?
I have been with the program every year since its start in the summer of 1999.
What is your favorite part of the program?
The best part of COSMOS from my perspective is the energy and enthusiasm of the students. These are kids that are genuinely excited about learning and show a level of awareness and concern about their world. It is clear that they will go on to make a positive contribution with their knowledge and talents.
What is your most memorable instance at COSMOS?
There have been so many, but I would have to say it was the time that we were returning to the harbor after a short research cruise, and a ten foot white shark surfaced and swam along the boat for about 5 minutes. I will never forget how excited all the students were to witness it.
What is your area of research expertise?
My area of expertise lies in invertebrate zoology and in particular crustacean biology. For the last twenty plus years, I have been researching krill population dynamics and ecology of the coast of California.
What is the most fascinating place you’ve visited to do research?
I have been fortunate to have been able to travel all over the world for research related purposes, but the most unique place I have done research would have to be in Antarctica where I spent 15 months as a graduate student.
What is an interesting fact about you?
I have a beach named after me in Antarctica and the circumstances by which this happened were largely random.
What surprised you the most about the students who come to COSMOS?
I never fail to be amazed by the level of accomplishments they have already attained at such a young age. I think back to my own teenage years (which is becoming increasingly more difficult as they get farther and farther in the rear view mirror) and I can’t recall any of my generation having achieved so much so early.
What keeps bringing you back to COSMOS every summer?
Without a doubt, it is the energy and enthusiasm of the students. It serves to recharge my own batteries with a fresh dose of curiosity & optimism.
I was approached by the chair of my department who informed me of this new program that would teach stem related courses to academically gifted high school
students. They were trying to provide a variety of subjects in science and technology and they were interested in having a course focused on marine sciences.
How long have you been teaching at COSMOS?
I have been with the program every year since its start in the summer of 1999.
What is your favorite part of the program?
The best part of COSMOS from my perspective is the energy and enthusiasm of the students. These are kids that are genuinely excited about learning and show a level of awareness and concern about their world. It is clear that they will go on to make a positive contribution with their knowledge and talents.
What is your most memorable instance at COSMOS?
There have been so many, but I would have to say it was the time that we were returning to the harbor after a short research cruise, and a ten foot white shark surfaced and swam along the boat for about 5 minutes. I will never forget how excited all the students were to witness it.
What is your area of research expertise?
My area of expertise lies in invertebrate zoology and in particular crustacean biology. For the last twenty plus years, I have been researching krill population dynamics and ecology of the coast of California.
What is the most fascinating place you’ve visited to do research?
I have been fortunate to have been able to travel all over the world for research related purposes, but the most unique place I have done research would have to be in Antarctica where I spent 15 months as a graduate student.
What is an interesting fact about you?
I have a beach named after me in Antarctica and the circumstances by which this happened were largely random.
What surprised you the most about the students who come to COSMOS?
I never fail to be amazed by the level of accomplishments they have already attained at such a young age. I think back to my own teenage years (which is becoming increasingly more difficult as they get farther and farther in the rear view mirror) and I can’t recall any of my generation having achieved so much so early.
What keeps bringing you back to COSMOS every summer?
Without a doubt, it is the energy and enthusiasm of the students. It serves to recharge my own batteries with a fresh dose of curiosity & optimism.