Why I Write

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     I suppose my writing aspirations likely fall under the broad category of “science-writing.” This is not something I have much considered, however I very much enjoy the insights into the nature of life provided by studying biochemistry. Increasingly, I am aware that this topic dominates my thoughts. I think more accurately would be to say that my endeavors in science increasingly shape the way I see and experience the world. The incredible thing is that I can say without a doubt that my daily experience of the world is genuinely different than it was a year ago. Upon my introduction to organic chemistry, I found myself face to face with a world seemingly on an entirely different plane of reality. If the subject were mere fantasy I might be drawn to it nonetheless, and I would argue that the patterns and geometries woven into organic molecules would be worthy of consideration in their own right. The tantalizing thing, however, is that it’s all real. A genuine description of reality lies in the area of study known as organic chemistry. If we expand our field of view and consider living systems, now we are dealing with biochemistry. It’s real. It’s elegant. It’s beautiful. It’s really there. Always. It’s us. It’s you, and me. It’s worth writing about.

     I would not consider it a stretch to say that every blade of grass contains a symphony: a symphony of amino acids and enzymes, nucleotides and nucleic acids. A symphony of metabolic pathways, cellular signaling, DNA replicating. A symphony of membrane transporting and RNA synthesizing. To describe these things as a symphony is fitting not only because of the evident harmonies and interlocking melodies (there is an essential interplay between all biochemical systems). They are a symphony because something very beautiful emerges from their song: life at the macroscopic scale. It seems we often disregard the awesome wonder of the living things around us. I almost bite my tongue writing this. Stop and smell the roses, right? It seems cliché, like I’m parroting something my kindergarten teacher told me in a biology lesson. Maybe some of us are less jaded about this, but nevertheless we relegate this form of inquiry to the romantics, the transcendentalists – long deceased writers. We believe the poets of eras past already cataloged the totality of humankind’s experience of nature. We believe there’s not much left to investigate anyway, modern science basically figured everything else out, right? I believe writing is the mechanism by which to dismantle these restrictive beliefs. Writing invites others to the room of free exploration.

     Ultimately I don’t aim to write about the beauty of nature, nor the fluff of romanticizing it. I’ll admit that my oozing over these various biochemical systems probably means nothing to most people, practically speaking. I believe I am compelled to write on this topic simply because I am compelled to think about it. Considering the natural world allows me a break from the stream of thoughts devoted to my own inner world. So, at some level it is personally rewarding. At another level, I hunger to see a more robust depiction of reality than a poem communicates. At the same time, the spiritual unfulfillment of scientific atheism will never do it for me.

   With fresh eyes, the world of biochemistry illuminates life – structured and purposed to the nanometer scale. The fantastic mystery is that we, alone, contemplate questions like, “why do I write?” yet we are formed from the same dust as the rest of the universe. I want to write about it.

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-Bennett Hendricks, 2019

 Student of Biochemistry, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, class of 2021