Cell study wins RIA competition

A report on how a cell dies spontaneously as a way to protect the health of others around it has won the Royal Irish Academy's annual biochemistry science writing competition. Runner-up in the competition was a paper on diabetes and how it might be controlled.

Mr Gearoid Tuohy, of the Department of Genetics at Trinity College, Dublin, yesterday won first prize in the RIA competition, which is sponsored jointly by Yamanouchi Ireland Co Ltd and The Irish Times. He received a certificate and a cheque for £300. Ms Siobhan Conroy, of the Department of Biochemistry at NUI, Dublin, was the runner-up and received a certificate and a cheque for £150.

The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students in third level institutions, both North and South, who are asked to write a newspaper article suitable for the non-scientific reader, explaining any new topic in biochemistry.

The competition was not about "simply stating a set of scientific propositions, but stating them in a way that can be understood", the president of the RIA, Prof Michael Herrity, said at the prizegiving. "It is quite a challenge."

The ability to explain developments in science to a general audience was a "critical issue" for scientists, said Mr Joe Harford, president and chief executive officer of Yamanouchi Ireland. Researchers had a responsibility to explain their work.

Mr Tuohy's report explained how healthy human cells were designed to carry out their own controlled "suicide" in a selfless way that ensured a person's continued wellbeing. A better understanding of how this process worked could provide a valuable tool in the fight against illness.