A bit of a brag

Yesterday Boak and I popped into the Genetics Society of Australasia Conference at Sydney University (as you do) and I was moved to tears by a presentation entitled "MHC Diversity in the Koala: the 'immune genes' which drive the adaptive immune response".

It wasn't simply because I was being told how these cuddly little Aussie icons are threatened with extinction by diseases like Chlamydia and Cryptococcosis.

It wasn't simply because this aging brain of mine only understood every third word, phrases like Class II MHC molecule, heterozygote advantage, cysteine bridges, and Tryptophan and Asparagie residues having no place at all in the vocabulary of an ex-English teaching Arts graduate.

I was moved to tears because the beautiful young woman presenting the preliminary findings of her PhD research to her first scientific conference was my daughter, Sarah.


From the time we give birth to them we teach our children - to speak, walk, read, and face life's situations. So for Boak and me to reach the day when our little girl turned the tables on us and dazzled us with her professionalism and passionate knowledge of her chosen field of work, and opened my eyes to a new area of learning, was simply wonderful.

I was so glad she had invited us to be there - and so proud of her!

[Now she just needs to ask me to show her how to play her iPod through car radio - she doesn't know everything yet!]