Interestingly, Homer Smith's statement about "smart boys" also proved relevant. Even in the early/mid 20th century when
Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2022 2:28 pm
Interestingly, Homer Smith's statement about "smart boys" also proved relevant. Even in the early/mid 20th century when women were far less common in research labs, numerous women scientists were making major contributions to our understanding of the kidneys. Though still very much underappreciated in their day, more recent kidney researchers have published papers in academic journals to share the many contributions of women to our foundational knowledge of the kidneys.
We're going to focus on the work of one woman kidney researcher in particular. Margaret Mylle was born in 1927 and studied science at the University of Western Ontario and Mt Holyoke College. She teamed up with another famous kidney researcher, Carl Gottschalk, and together they set out to design experiments to investigate Hypothesis 2. As a reminder, Hypothesis 2 states: The kidney pumps solutes around to maintain a small area with a relatively constant hypertonic environment such that, only under certain circumstances, the kidneys let water flow in the direction of that hypertonic environment and leave the urine.
Think through this hypothesis again and consider Margaret Mylle's perspective. If you were seeking out data that might support this hypothesis, what sort of an experiment would you design? For example, assuming you had the tools to collect data and make observations on the kidneys, where would you look in the kidneys and what would you look for? If you hoped to disprove the hypothesis that water is actively transported out of the distal tubule, what would you look for and where?
We're going to focus on the work of one woman kidney researcher in particular. Margaret Mylle was born in 1927 and studied science at the University of Western Ontario and Mt Holyoke College. She teamed up with another famous kidney researcher, Carl Gottschalk, and together they set out to design experiments to investigate Hypothesis 2. As a reminder, Hypothesis 2 states: The kidney pumps solutes around to maintain a small area with a relatively constant hypertonic environment such that, only under certain circumstances, the kidneys let water flow in the direction of that hypertonic environment and leave the urine.
Think through this hypothesis again and consider Margaret Mylle's perspective. If you were seeking out data that might support this hypothesis, what sort of an experiment would you design? For example, assuming you had the tools to collect data and make observations on the kidneys, where would you look in the kidneys and what would you look for? If you hoped to disprove the hypothesis that water is actively transported out of the distal tubule, what would you look for and where?