What makes up a species? And can you combine different types of life in new ways? These are the questions that Dr. Christopher Mason tries to answer, as a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine, the medical school of Cornell University. Much of his efforts need funding, which he seeks continuously, and teaching the next generation of genetic scientists. His work takes him all over the world – and beyond, as he also examines long-term health effects of NASA astronauts in space.

Dr. Sam Aparicio of BC Cancer, studying medicine was always the plan, but research became his passion. Unbeknownst to him, research also involves many skills that didn’t expect, such as grant-writing, which he had to learn along the way. This led him down other side pathways, such as starting a biotech company to commercialize some of the findings in the genomics field.

The mapping of the human genome was a fearless plunge into groundbreaking science. Dr Fraser says, as a scientist, she had to take risks that allowed her to answer the questions she was asking in molecular biology – at the time a nascent field. She dared to fail at a time when that was still an option.