Research in science and Sci-Fi...and other ramblings

One lesson I've learned is that reading stories and books within the genre you hope to publish is akin to doing primary scientific research. The old adage goes that the best writers of sci-fi are also avid readers of sci-fi. This is true in medical and other scientific research as well. I have to read several primary research articles a week to stay current on experiments, methods, and new discoveries in science. Doing so also gives me insight on how to tell my scientific "story" when it is time to submit my paper for peer-review. 

There are lots of places to submit original sci-fi work, but I've learned that just as in scientific research, the story has to be the right fit for the magazine. At work I study the genetics of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, as well as human aging. My research paper on hypertension wouldn't make sense in a journal like Cancer Research. It's better suited for a cardiovascular-related journal. This rings true for publishing science fiction and fantasy. So I'm spending a lot of time reading through stories published in a variety of different publications to get a feel for where my stories can hopefully find a home someday. 

Not only is this fun for me (because I love reading) but I'm also learning how others are honing their craft and becoming better story tellers. Over the months and years I've compiled a list of publishing destinations and magazines in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. For the non-writers who may be reading this, if you like any of these genres I would recommend checking out some of these websites. You may just find something you like. And for other authors, I hope this is helpful. 

I've classified the list into subsections, as well as the "usual" word count of stories accepted under each magazine's guidelines.  This is by no means an exhaustive list and each list is in no particular order. I am certain I am missing many publications and so I'll do my best to continue to update this list as I find more. 

Science Fiction/Fantasy 

Clarkesworld Magazine   1,000 - 16,000 Words

Nature Futures   850 - 950 Words

Lightspeed Magazine   1,500 - 10,000 Words

Daily Science Fiction   100 - 1,500 Words 

Strange Horizons  Up to 10,000 Words

Intergalactic Medicine Show  Any Length 

Acidic Fiction  Not accepting (as of now)

365 Tomorrows  Up to 600 Words

Bastion Magazine 1,000 - 5,000 Words

Shimmer Magazine  Up to 7,500 Words

Flash Fiction Online 500 - 1,000 Words 

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Up to 25,000 Words

Lakeside Circus  Flash Fiction (<1,000 Words) or Short Fiction (1,001 - 5,000 Words)

Writers of the Future (Contest, up to 17,000 Words)

Hydra  (Novels, at least 70,000 Words)

Analog  (Varying lengths)

Asimov's Science Fiction  Up to 20,000 Words 

Horror

Nightmare Magazine  (1,500 - 7,500 Words)

Dark Chapter Press  (Dependent upon submission call)

The Horror Tree (Dependent upon submission call)

General Fiction/Misc.

Quail Bell Magazine 

Liars' League NYC  (Generally 800 - 3,000 Words)

And now for something completely different:

When I was in Europe I snapped as many photographs as I could of the beautiful sights and landscapes. The amount of castles, stone circles, ruins, and glens makes it very easy to find inspiration for stories (I also recommend a small notebook to write down such ideas before they float away). Some of the places I visited no doubt inspired other writers. For example, below are two pictures of a bar that I walked past while in London. Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) will recognize the name. I have no idea if George R.R. Martin ever saw this particular bar, or was inspired by the name, but I know he has frequented the UK so perhaps there is a link. (Again, I suck at taking pictures. My wife Julia is much better at it. But I can at least claim that it was raining, it was dark, and I was buzzed on some solid English beer.)

London is full of amazing places. No doubt seeing some of these sites made me think of great writers before my time and how they must have done their own research. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle undoubtedly did research before writing his Sherlock stories. You can't see the address very well above the door, but we stopped by 221B Baker Street to see if we could catch a glimpse of Benedict Cumberbatch (I mean Sherlock Holmes...of course).  It was well past midnight and we did see a fox outside the house when we drove up....in downtown London. So perhaps Mr. Holmes was in disguise to avoid the American tourists. 

Edinburgh, Scotland was a magical city. I've heard stories that George R.R. Martin traveled quite a bit in England and Scotland (apparently Hadrian's Wall was the inspiration of The Wall in his books). While in Edinburgh we visit Edinburgh Castle, and inside the Grand Hall were numerous stained glass windows with the sigils and crests of Scottish clans and families. As you can see below, some of them are eerily familiar to those described in the books. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a picture of the castle up close. I'll scour Julia's phone when she gets home. 

Edinburgh Castle from across the city 

Inside the castle walls

Windows in the Grand Hall 

Of course, we also had to stop by a favorite haunt of J.K.Rowling - one of my most favorite authors. Julia was as excited as I was. However, the croissant I ate while there failed to unlock my inner muse and give me the inspiration to write a seven-book series that will make me a multi-millionaire. I should've asked for a refund. 

On the trip I was also excited to meet up with another author who is building up his own publishing company - Dark Chapter Press. Located in Alnwick, England, Rob is a horror author and his press has featured some of my own horror stories on the website. It was a great chance to meet after working online together for over a year. Here's to hoping for future collaboration with D.C.P.! (A short story of mine will be included in an upcoming horror anthology published by D.C.P.- more on that later.) 

Talking horror at Dirty Bottles with Rob (left) and Dark Chapter Press in Alnwick, UK

I'm continually surprised by the similarities in research, writing, and submission of either research publications or genre fiction writing. Hopefully I can use the success and failures I have in each field to improve my writing and story telling in the coming years. 

Next week (or at least next post) I will be conducting a social experiment of sorts over a period of several months. It's time that I put my genetics knowledge to an informative use and I plan on doing something a little crazy to garner more discussion and communication in genetics, especially with my friends who don't do research. 

Until then - Go Cubs! Back to the Future Part II predicted that the Cubs would be World Series winners this year. Wouldn't that be something if it really happened? 

When Geneticists Unite

I've just realized (read: decided not to ignore) the fact that I haven't posted in many months. Going nearly five months between updates is not a very good start at attempting to become a blogger/science writer. So today begins attempt #6 at writing about science and to get the ball rolling on this website. This week I'm attending the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) annual conference. In a stroke of luck the conference is being held in downtown Baltimore so I get to sleep in my own bed and walk to work all week - heaven.

Clearly there are a lot of geneticists here, with too many opinions sometimes. And although there are countless seminars and talks and symposiums at this year's event, I feel there has been a very clear message broadcast as the 'unofficial' theme: communication. I'm not sure that was intended or not, but many investigators and clinicians (even patients) are stressing the importance of more communication between researchers and community. Taking that to heart I've decided to provide a little update about my experience at the conference and 'communicate' some of the coolest things I've stumbled upon while here. So without further ado I'd like to present my first offering.

Enter Mr. Robot:

I'm sorry for the potato - quality image. I still don't know how to use my phone's camera appropriately even though I've had it for four years or so. Regardless, this robot runs automated PCR assays for companies and university laboratories. (If you don't know what PCR is, please read my previous post on the subject called The Next Revolution in Genetics). The company (Hitachi) selling these bots is from Japan and they have been using these guys for several years now. Each eyepiece contains a small camera and its hands are quite dexterous, yet sturdy and completely automated. The representative I was speaking with said they were looking to enter the American market and in a few years it is conceivable that many major universities and companies, which run thousands of PCR reactions, will be using these to provide faster and cheaper sample processing. I have mixed feelings about this technology. Clearly it's bad-ass and the robot is friendly-looking enough. In fact it reminds me a little bit of WALL-E. But I can't help but wonder how many lab techs and post-bacs (or even post-docs) will be facing an even more competitive environment where jobs are no longer needed to run large research and gene-sequencing initiatives. It's a changing world. 

The Next Generation - The Genome vs. The Exome

Most people know what the genome is. Simply, the genome is the collection of your DNA's entire genetic sequence. From the sequences that make up your genes, to the regulatory elements that govern how your genes are expressed, and finally the long stretches of DNA that have few genes but which are still vitally important structural elements. Your genome is the complete package of DNA that is found in nearly every cell of your body (mature red blood cells do not have a nucleus and little to no DNA).  

What you may not be as familiar with is the exome. The exome is a little trickier to identify, but when analyzed it can provide important clues into your health and where/when specific genes are expressed.  When a gene from your DNA is expressed, an RNA copy is made. RNA is a nucleic acid, similar to DNA, and acts as a middle man between DNA and ultimately the proteins that are created. All proteins are coded for by DNA genes, and all proteins arise from the edited RNAs that carry the 'message' of your DNA to the machinery that makes the proteins. (There are many additional types of RNAs that don't code for proteins but that is a story for another post.) The RNA, called messenger RNA or mRNA, is edited and processed, not unlike editing down a blog post from a draft to something (hopefully) legible. The cell then reads the processed mRNA to create our proteins. The exome is all of the RNAs expressed at a specific point of time in a specific tissue. For instance, the exome of your neurons would be all those RNAs found in your neurons at the time when it was collected. The exome gives us insight into the exact library of genes that have been turned on specifically in the neurons....or within a tumor...or any other type of tissue being tested. 

Our bodies have tens of thousands of genes (~25-30,000 protein-coding genes and another 10-20,000 non-protein coding genes that code for additional RNAs). Amazingly, our bodies have evolved to be masters of efficiency. We simply don't need to express every gene/protein in every cell of our body. Proteins required for the function of the heart, and not at all for the function of the liver, are simply not expressed in the liver. There are liver proteins found in the liver but not in the heart. And even though every cell in our body has the complete DNA 'blueprints' for the entire body, tissues and specific types of cells are good at maximizing and expressing only those genes and proteins essential for its own normal function. By sequencing our exome in a particular tissue, we get a specific answer on what exactly is going on with our expressed genes in said tissue. This also allows us to cancel out all the other background genetic 'noise' that isn't important. 

Many genetic mutations arise de novo - meaning they are brand new to an individual and not inherited from parents. Many disease are caused by de novo mutations, including cancers. Clinicians can make use of this by comparing and contrasting normal tissue in your body with diseased tissue (there are many ways to make this comparison, sequencing the genomes vs the exome is only an example). Companies can sequence your genome from your blood immune cells (in which case your entire genetic sequence is known) and then sequence your exome from a cancerous tissue (in which only those genes expressed in that particular cancer tissue are sequenced). Then, the results can be matched together and mutations potentially identified. In the dawn of personalized medicine, this allows clinicians to zero in on whether your genome has a mutation in an important gene....ideally tailoring a therapy specifically for you. Whole genome sequencing can also tell us whether a variation in your DNA is the result of inheritance from mom or dad, or one that developed de novo when you were growing in the womb. 

Below is a genetic testing kit that I got this morning from Centogene - a biomedical company based in Germany. Clinicians can order a genetic sequencing test of either your genome or your exome to identify variations in your genetic sequence that may influence disease: such as in the BRCA1 gene.  

And here is a picture of where your blood is dropped and dried and sent for analysis (note the circles):

This genetic test requires only 50 micro liters of blood (literally just a few drops) and costs only $2000. To put that in perspective, ten years ago sequencing of one individual cost millions of dollars. So the technology and the cost are both dramatically improving and I thought it would be good to show that we are very close to knocking on the door of the $1,000 genome (the gold standard). 

Now back to where communication comes in. Many patients and those outside of science confuse the genome with the exome (for good reason as they are very related), or what a genetic test can definitively tell you. It's the job of scientists, doctors, and those in medicine to clarify these differences so that patients know exactly what they are getting. It's also our job to show politicians on the Hill just how advanced technology is, why a new age in medicine is on the horizon, and why we need to continue to propel this forward with increased funding and discussion with all members of the community. 

And to put a cherry on top, below is one last photo from the event so far. I'm a sucker for the stress-ball giveaways from the vendors. I have a large collection of them at work (I don't know why...maybe I'm stressed?). This is a picture of the one that is by the far the best I've ever received - a squishy sperm cell. Who wouldn't want that on their work desk?