The Missing Act

As some of you know, The Pathologist is headquartered near Manchester, England – a city that hosted its 12th annual science festival in October. As always, I perused the program, selected far too many events, and then attended as many as I could. I heard (and saw) a synesthetic concert that used technology to render the music of a string quartet as colored light. I visited a pop-up museum of natural and medical curiosities from science past and present (some of which you may have seen on Twitter). I simulated an electric storm, mined blockchain currency, pedal-powered a blender to make myself a smoothie, and even pitted household appliances against one another in a battle royale.

But no matter how hard I scrutinized the schedule, I couldn’t find anything showcasing the hard work that goes on in biomedical research and clinical laboratories. Where was the insight into today’s disease research? The diagnosis and treatment of cancer, dementia, and other maladies that touch almost every life either directly or indirectly? Where was the awareness of the essential role of laboratory professionals?