What did you want to become as a kid? PhD candidate Miguel Ramirez-Gaona knew he wanted to do something with dinosaurs. And after seeing Jurassic Park as an 8-year old kid, he got even more captivated by (molecular) biology. This was the start of an groundbreaking and insightful scientific career. But besides making molecular biology understandable, like Mr. DNA does in the movie, there was another important well-known sentence in the movie that he always kept in mind: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
And so, this is what Miguel always keeps close to himself: Never forget to ask yourself, and your colleagues if you should study or try something. An important question when you’re working with genes in the laboratory of plant breeding. Enjoy an insightful introduction by Miguel (in English) about ambition, ethics and the purpose of science, after which you watch the classic film ‘Jurassic Park’ (Dutch subtitled). As an extra, you might even get some movie facts about T-rexes ‘checked’ or debunked.