Arresting Attention With Arresting Similes

By Dave Andrusko

I am not, and have never pretended to be, a science reporter. I have neither the background nor the head for (in this case) biology that would allow me to start from scratch. So what I do is look for those who really do know their stuff so that I can translate it into English that people like me can understand.

Those who are really good appreciate that comparisons are what makes the otherwise impenetrably complex understandable. Similes (something is “like” something else) is powerful figure of speech that makes for vivid comparisons.

What does this have to do with anything? Glad you asked. I ran across a story online this morning headlined “Stem cell work at University of Rochester points to progress.” The writer does a brilliant job of describing the promising result using “adult” stem cells, which really means stem cells that are not derived from human embryos (“embryonic stem cells”). I thought I was up to speed on this, but clearly I am not.

Patti Singer begins with this wonderful illustration:

“A stem cell is like a teenager trying to decide what to be when it grows up. What makes one kid become a doctor while another develops into an engineer or athlete, a teacher or computer programmer? What makes a cell that could become anything turn into bone, cartilage, muscle, blood — even fat?”

Is that great, or what? But there’s more—metaphors.

“A common metaphor is to compare the progression of a stem cell to the act of baking,” Singer writes. “You start with flour, but you can end up with a brownie, a bagel or a cupcake. That basic ingredient can turn into many things, depending on the recipe. With a stem cell, how does it wind up as bone or brain tissue?”

Singer explains that at “the core of the stem cell research” at the University of Rochester Medical Center is answering these questions “and then using that knowledge to find treatments.”

Not only may that knowledge “help scientists determine how stem cells differ from other cells in the body,” Singer writes, but “Once scientists know, they can attack diseased cells while protecting healthy ones.”

What’s really interesting, by the way, is that Singer is able to write all about adult stem cells without ever using the words “adult stem cell”! She refers to them as “tissue-specific stem cells.”

A small complaint. I would strongly encourage you to read the entire article at http://rocnow.com/article/local-news/20104260332