DR FRANCIS COLLINS RETIRES

 Dr. Francis Collins and our old friend, the corona virus

Horrible news!  My runner up for OVCA-battling hero of recent decades, Dr. Francis Collins, has retired.  Dr. Collins, as you all know, has been Director of NIH for a long time.  Before that, of course, he headed the “official” effort to decipher the human genome.  As NIH Director he directed the NIH thrust to apply genomics to the search for cures for many human diseases, especially cancer.  That, for instance, we know that mutations in the BRCA genes can vastly increase a woman’s chance of getting breast and ovarian cancer largely is the result of research overseen by Dr. Collins.

Collins also wrote blogs that I avidly awaited, studied, and reported on.  They were always clearly written, easy for a non-biologist to understand, interesting, and cast light on important doings in the medical world.  Possibly the new director (not yet chosen) will continue the blog tradition.  I hope so, but I doubt they will be up to the Collins standard.

Dr. Collins also wrote several books, one of which (The Language of Life) describes the decipherment of the genetic code.  He also published innumerable professional papers.  As you might guess, over the years he received many honors, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences.  He clearly deserves them.

It might surprise you to learn that Dr. Collins also is a practicing Christian.  Apparently like so many young scientists he began adult life as a confirmed atheist.  His conversion began, as related in his book The Language of God, with an encounter with another pro-faith book, Mere Christianity, written by the famous scholar/author C. S. Lewis.  I have read both books several times and seriously pondered their message, but remain unconvinced.  I still am "agnostic", in the true sense of the word.  Perhaps I simply don’t want to admit the existence of a god that would take away my Linda in such a cruel and wanton manner.  Being an ordinary human and not a Collins or Lewis, I can’t surmount that barrier.