Early camping trip
I have had a lot of fun as a geologist. I was paid, mind you, to visit all sorts of
interesting and beautiful places all over this half of the world. I worked in the Caribbean (hot, muggy,
boring), the Aegean (well worth a visit, especially off the beaten track),
Southwestern South America (wonderful), Italy (good food), and half a dozen
places in the United States (a mixed bag.)
I even got paid to go to Antarctica, a trip I never could have afforded
otherwise. And all the while I made
interesting friends, who enrich my life even now.
But if I had it to do over again, I would study computer
applications, with a double major of molecular genetics. I would become a data miner.
Here is a story about a data miner at UCLA, doing important
work, highly regarded research.
https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/03/01/creative-minds-looking-for-common-threads-in-rare-diseases/
This young woman – and she looks oh so young – is using
computer techniques to comb through existing data bases of DNA information and
related data to find “common threads” amongst various rare, “Mendalian”
diseases. She does it in a manner that I
don’t fully comprehend, in an effort to accomplish some things I don’t fully
understand, either. Whatever: NIH is excited enough to fund her
handsomely. (I got this information from
the blog of the Director of NIH: see http://ljb-quiltcutie.blogspot.com/2017/12/frankenstuff.html)
Well, if you do happen to read the rare diseases article you
will run on the following useful little ditty:
This explains data mining.
I am going to study it, after my morning nap.
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