Dido Carrero, curator and molecular biologist: “People are very heavy on the science-letter separation” | culture

Dido Carrero (Oviedo, 27) happily crosses that red line that many draw between the world of science and the world of humanities, and she does it well in every aspect. He also traverses the Cantabrian mountain range on a weekly basis: he lives between Asturias and Madrid. As a molecular biologist, she has investigated aging and cancer in the well-known team Carlos Lopez Oteneat the University of Oviedo. I met as an art historian Cerulean Gallerywhich gives alternative to young artists. He appears in the cafeteria with a book of poetry in AsturianAnd the Book Scheherazade after his deathAnd the by Raquel F. Menendez, I asked for sparkling water.

ask. Aren’t people heavyweights when it comes to the sciences and humanities?

Answer. Yes, they always want to catch you. “Are you from science or etiquette?” And they pressure you to decide on one thing, on a final road.

s. And you can’t decide?

R was found. Is that philosophers and scientists of other ages did it all. The same thing that they painted a picture, that they invented a machine, that they investigated nature or perspective. Now, because of the course of science, we live in times of great specialisation. But I like to do many things. Although time gives what it gives.

s. Consideration of majors is not the same.

R was found. From science there is often a view of disdain towards the humanities. “How would you study art history if you were already a scientist?” But I think today Profiles with a more global view are needed.

s. What have you achieved?

R was found. I have dedicated myself to issues like cancer and aging. I have studied animals that live long and are very resistant. In the dissertation that I read in March, for my PhD, I compared the genomes of some of these species: Galapagos tortoises (which live over a hundred years), immortal jellyfish, tardigrades …

s. Late… what?

R was found. They are tiny, microscopic animals that can tolerate everything. They even took them to outer space and nothing, very calm. Resistance to harsh environmental conditions means your system is better prepared and more biologically viable, so to speak.

s. The thing about the immortal jellyfish was very popular.

R was found. It was a work I led with my partner, Maria Pascual, that I had sequenced his genome, and we didn’t expect this ramification from him. They immediately started calling it all over the media, I think because of the word “timeless,” which has a lot of hook.

s. Do we want to be immortal?

R was found. There are many millionaires in Silicon Valley They invest huge amounts of money in search of immortality. These are the people who already have everything, and the only thing they can’t have is time: they’ve invested a lot of money in it.

s. is it possible?

R was found. it’s not possible. It would have to change a lot of our knowledge of man in order for him to be immortal. But I also wouldn’t wish it on anyone: it would be chaos. Saramago tells it in the novel Death stopped: On January 1 death stopped working. And the world collapses.

s. However, we do not conform to anything like death. How do you deal with limitations?

R was found. There are people who want to die in the end. My grandmother used to say, “What am I still doing here?” The ideal is to be able to die whenever you want. For me, more than the passing of time, I am more concerned about not having time in the present moment.

s. So why investigate?

R was found. We want to make it clear that our research is not trying to achieve eternal life, but rather finding evidence to combat the diseases associated with aging, so that we not only live longer, but do better.

s. whatHow long can you live?

R was found. It is estimated that the maximum life expectancy is around 124 years. The oldest known person lived to be 122 years old. French Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997.

s. What is getting old, not understanding the young?

R was found. The gradual loss of the physiological integrity of the organism. Cell deterioration, mutations, epigenetic changes, and the body loses its functions. Everything works worse, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and so on appear.

s. But does looking at age also have anything to do with it?

R was found. Good, This is a genetic thing. There are people who have gray hair at the age of 25 and it’s not that they will die soon. It’s more superficial.

s. I have trained and researched with Carlos Lopez Otene, one of the most famous scientists. What does it look like?

R was found. He has it all. On the one hand, he is very smart, with few resources he has done unimaginable things, and has undertaken projects beyond what anyone would expect. On the other hand, he is very sympathetic, cares about everyone, and has a great human side.

s. no longer check.

R was found. Now I work as a bioinformatics expert, studying biological data, especially genomes, using computer tools. But this is not research. The investigation is very difficult, there are few opportunities, low salaries, poor conditions… Scholarships are restricted, you cannot emancipate yourself, or start a family until you are 40… They are all problems. The people are very dissatisfied, which is why many leave Spain.

s. you are not leaving?

R was found. I’ve been in Madrid for a year and a half, where I live because I love the cultural environment. Every week I go to work in Asturias for a few days and then come back.

s. What do you think of culture?

R was found. When I started my PhD, everything seemed square to me, I needed to be in touch with something more creative, without being an artist or anything, because I had no talent. But I love art and music… so I joined it remotely art history. And I got my degree, four years, in three.

s. Was it very different for you?

R was found. In art history they would put a picture of me in, and I would have to comment on which art direction it belonged to, etc. I found it interesting, I just had to read the books, and that was enough for me, because I loved it so much.

s. when we talk about creativity We think about art, but science is also necessary to make hypotheses.

R was found. Yes, of course, but in another way. And looking at the painting is different from reading a paper.

s. Does it confirm the stereotype that scientists are gray and square people?

R was found. Well a little yes [bromea]. I tell you that you are a scientist!

s. called his gallery Sirol.

R was found. Yes, I don’t know why, I was looking for a sonorous name and this one came up. We do cultural management, dedicating ourselves to giving opportunities to emerging artists who cannot enter the gallery circuit, to start making themselves known, to have that experience that is needed, but not given access. We do exhibitions in places like Xixon Film FestivalBut in Madrid I show at my house.

s. Don’t you care?

R was found. Galleries are very serious and serious places that give the visitor some respect, especially if you don’t belong in that world. I wanted a space where you could curl up on a couch, with colleagues, over a few beers, so that the artist could explain the work to you one-on-one. More relaxed atmosphere.

s. What do you plan to do in the future?

R was found. I’d like to be able to do a search, but with this scenario I don’t know if that’s possible. What I don’t want to leave out is the technical part. I will leave science sooner. I would like to work in a museum, but I see it as complicated: continuing in the sciences is the easiest path for me.