I have subscribed to quite a few journals to get alerts about new papers. Mostly this signifies lots of stuff to wade through until something interesting or relevant pops up. But one thing I always look forward to is the Q&A in Current Biology. In this section, some professor/researcher is asked questions related to their research and their career. Now the reason this is not as boring as you might think is that the questions are pretty interesting. Not only do they highlight that person’s interests and career path, but also their opinions on their field and beyond.

The start is most likely ‘What turned you on to biology in the first place?‘, for instance asked to Botond Roska in this Q&A. While sometimes this uncovers a passion that started in childhood, other, more circuituous routes to biology may also come to light. Often this is followed…