Gender issues seldom generate the same heat in science as they do in business and politics. And when they do flare, the cause is usually classroom teaching methods and cultural cues that presumably discourage young girls from scientific careers. But like so much else in life, there is a flaw in the truism and fission in the truth. The reality is that in fields such as biology the same number of men and women earn PhD's each year. So much for women being intimidated.

Yet if the American public truly values the contributions of such female scientists as Marie Curie, Mary Edmonds and Barbara McClintock -- to name only a few -- there is still reason to be worried. Young women, it seems, are not pursuing university science careers in the numbers expected by the degrees earned. True, some of these women choose satisfying scientific careers in the private sector. But university laboratories are rightly known as hothouses of innovation, the places where free-ranging inquiry reigns and from which new knowledge streams. Spurning academia undermines women as an equal force in seminal scientific discovery.

UCSF has a thriving community of women researchers in both clinical and research fields. Yet encouraging as those numbers are, UCSF cell biologist Elizabeth Blackburn -- known for her discovery of the enzyme telomerase and the subsequent proving of how telomeres, the protective tips of chromosomes, erode as cells divide -- is not satisfied. "Our overall numbers are still strikingly low." Moreover, she is keenly attuned to the reasons why smart young women may become disenchanted with an academic career in the basic sciences. "It's certainly not because they all of a sudden become stupid and can't do the work. It's more an aggregate of subtle things." She lists numerous possibilities: problems securing tenure during prime childbearing years, a lack of women mentors, disenchantment with the combativeness of the research process, discrimination, and majority-male "social compacts" that translate into missed opportunities for everything from coauthoring publications to promotions. Another problem, at least in basic science fields, is the nature of discovery itself.

As Blackburn (in photo at right) explains, "Basic science doesn't stop. The field moves on. If you take off a year to have a child, you may never catch up."

As an established UCSF faculty member, who still remembers being the lone female department chair (microbiology and immunology) in the School of Medicine, Blackburn appreciates both the collegial spirit of UCSF and its well-meaning and earnest attempts to recruit and retain female faculty. But as an internationally known scientist with a passel of impressive awards, she realizes that the problem is far larger than any single institution can redress. Indeed, Blackburn, the parent of a 16-year-old, has added her voice to a growing national movement to change the culture of science to accommodate the needs of women. In the November 2002 issue of Discover magazine, for example, she remarked, "Many women wonder, 'How am I going to do this and have a family?' Because part of the culture of science is that if you're not there until late, you're not really doing it, which is the biggest pile of crap. All these hours and chatting and things like that don't make the science better."

Blackburn, who will soon move to new quarters at UCSF Mission Bay, also worries about the science missed. For her, it's not just about the numbers – she prides herself on the number of women members in her laboratory -- but about the nature of the inquiry. Women, she argues, approach science differently. "Successful women scientists often have done 'lateral thinking,' the kind of thinking that finds relationships that are not obvious. I've also noticed they tend to be very good at investigating things that no one else knows what to make of."

While some may disagree that there is such a thing as a female perspective on scientific problems, none can deny the impact of women on science at UCSF. In this first of two articles, UCSF Magazine profiles some of the women researchers who are among the first wave of "colonists" to the university's new campus addition at Mission Bay. In the second installment, we will examine the clinical side of the equation.