I was happy to be put on the Daily staff this semester, but I was a bit surprised at the beat I was assigned. I am the health sciences and research reporter. During the previous spring semester, I had gotten lucky with two research stories that were written quite well, but I didn’t expect to be assigned as THE reporter for health science and research.

I’m not a science student at all. I slaved my way through AP biology in high school so I could exempt myself from any science requirements for my major.

I have found, however, that being the science reporter has immense benefits for me. It’s not just because I get paid for it, but also because I learn some incredibly interesting things that are all happening at our university.

For example, my first story covered OU Health Sciences Center doctors who had found that a recently discovered anti-aging gene, called klotho, in our bodies, could be manipulated to prevent high blood pressure and heal damaged organs.

I may not understand the science behind that, but I don’t have to be a molecular biologist to know that is just plain cool. Do you realize the kind of implications this research could have on the huge number of Americans who suffer from high blood pressure (one-third according to the American Heart Association), on pharmaceutical companies’ profits, on future health care as a whole? It blows my mind.

Americans have to take blood pressure medications DAILY, and these medicines can come with their fair share of detrimental side effects. According to the researchers, manipulating the klotho gene would be a more natural process, and therefore would have no side effects. Also, a direct injection of the gene would only need to be taken once or twice a year or every few years.

That sounds like a much better deal for patients, but then you reach another dilemma: We live in a society that may not accept this new treatment because someone would be losing huge profits. Pharmaceutical companies make enormous profits off blood pressure medications. Companies wouldn’t want to market a product that would eliminate the necessity for all of their other products.

As cool as this research is, it got me wondering if it will ever go anywhere. It also got me wondering about what other amazing technologies or medicines have been created but discarded because they weren’t marketable. It’s a tricky plane where science, health and capitalism meet.

There have been a few other stories that have just amazed me with the simple fact that graduate students and professors are sometimes the ones conducting this research.

I discovered that a physics and astronomy professor led a team of graduate students to discover the first recorded existence of Rydberg molecules. I could hardly understand the complex science behind their discovery, but they told me the U.S. military was funding their research because it could lead to the creation of quantum computers. That’s an incredible development that could impact our national security in the future.

All in all, covering these stories has really put in perspective for me the many things going on at OU that I don’t know about or assume just aren’t happening. I mean let’s face it, this is Oklahoma. So many people I know complain about how boring this state is, but they don’t realize that things really are happening here. Big things. And it makes me proud to know I’m on a campus where it’s all happening.

Jared Rader is a journalism and Chinese sophomore and the HSC beat reporter.