This Scientist is Bridging Barriers

GRACE KAGO, Ph.D., (Cell & Molecular Biology, ’22)

Grace Kago is a recent Ph.D. graduate and current postdoctoral fellow at UT Austin with a passion for science communication.

Interviewed by Emily Engelbart.

Tell me about your research.
When bacteria encounter stressful environments, such as those encountered during infection of a human, they implement a global reprogramming of their genetic expression that allows them to switch their metabolism from “growth” mode to “survival” mode. For pathogenic bacteria whose functions include invading and spreading in a host, these response processes are tightly regulated especially in the context of infection. I want to better understand this process of bacterial adaptation to the host environment in a type of bacterium that infects our gastrointestinal system.

“Much of the science we do in labs doesn’t make its way to lay audiences.”

Talk about your YouTube channel that informs audiences about complex scientific topics in Bantu languages.
Most of the media reports, on scientific discoveries in Kenya are in English, and while English is one of the national languages, the languages that many people speak in their lives are often mother tongues or the other national language, Kiswahili. If we want people to integrate scientific findings and discourse into their lives, we also need to do it in languages that they’re living in. So, I decided to increase in-depth conversations about science topics in these African languages on a free and accessible platform. For example, I didn’t want to only talk about how crazy a disease like malaria is; I also wanted to explain and discuss the molecular mechanisms. I would like for other scientists to see my page and do the same. While I am not 100% fluent, I get help from people like my parents who are fluent. I try to be really vocal about that because I want to encourage other people, with varying levels of language fluency to collaborate with others and embark on translation work.

What led you to start this channel?
During the pandemic, I became hyper aware of the fact that much of the science we do in labs doesn’t make its way to lay audiences. I remember wondering if the media channels airing in Gĩkũyũ that my grandparents who are in Kenya listen to were talking about vaccine developments in detail. I found out that there were some gaps, so I wondered if this was somewhere I could make a contribution.

Why do you think some scientists are hesitant to initiate similar projects?
I think the idea of translation is daunting to many scientists because of time constraints, and there are many languages that have not developed modern scientific vocabulary. One of the YouTube channel’s subscribers contributes neologisms for some of the concepts I teach about, so I have been learning from that.

What was it like being an editorial intern for the journal “Cell”?
I noticed the editors spent a lot of time talking about papers and scientific research. I wondered whether they thought about translation of the interesting findings from the journal into other languages. My mentors thought I could develop this thought into an opinion piece incorporating different perspectives from people who are working in the fields of translation and translation tool development. I scouted and found some people, and three of them were available to write. So, I experienced the process of putting a piece in the journal.