In this interview with Jan Šmarda, conducted on August 17, on the occasion of the missed birthday of the biologist Jana Šmardová, you will learn about a new website dedicated to Jana’s book and about his translation, teaching and popularisation activities in the field of disease biology.
After studying molecular biology at Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science (SCI MUNI), Jan Šmarda was employed at the Institute of Entomology (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) in České Budějovice between 1989 and 1993. In June 1990, he left the Academy for a post-doctoral stay at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, USA, where he worked until July 1993. Since 1993, Jan has been employed at SCI MUNI, where he served as Director of the Department of Experimental Biology from 2006 to 2023. His scientific work focuses on the study of the molecular mechanisms controlling the proliferation, differentiation, migration and programmed cell death of tumour cells. He was the first researcher to introduce technologies for cultivation and genetic manipulation of human and animal cells to SCI MUNI. As a visiting professor, he has completed several internships at Stanford University in the USA.
Photo: Irina Matusevič
On August 17, we commemorate the premature passing of your wife, the biologist Jana Šmardová. What have you achieved in relation to her legacy as regards her book What Tumours Teach: Parallels in the Behaviour of Cells and People, published by Munipress in Czech in 2021 and English in 2023?
The most visible achievement is the new website dedicated to Jana’s book (www.nadorynasuci.cz, including the English language mutation). I know how much effort Jana devoted to the book and how much energy it took her to finish it , but it was also a wonderful experience for me to watch the creative explosion she experienced while writing it. Thanks to the website, a whole new audience of people from the Czech Republic and around the world will learn about Jana’s work. The website contains basic information on the book, along with short introductions to each chapter. Reviews from readers of the book have been collected here. Some are in the form of extensive reviews, such as the text by Prof. Zdenek Hostomského from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, or the text by Prof. Libor Grubhoffer from the Biological Centre of the Academy of Sciences. A subpage is dedicated to her biography, with many previously unpublished photos from Jana’s life. The number of links to Jana’s lectures or videos and interviews is constantly increasing, and there is also a link to my recent talk for TEDx Masaryk University.
What did you cover in your lecture for TEDx Masaryk University, which readers can watch here (only in Czech language? How did it relate to the theme of Jana’s book?
The preparation of the lecture, like the work on the website, was an opportunity for me to personally deal with the situation after Jana’s departure and to reflect on the topic of cellular and human death in a more popular form. It was an interesting experience for me. I started with a description of how certain cells die naturally, rightfully and inevitably for the benefit of the whole – a multicellular organism. Then I compared this to the way how we view death in human culture. Although death is natural, we tend to avoid it, we often don’t want to talk about it and push it out of our minds. I also described Jana’s own experience of finally accepting death, and how we were subsequently able to say many things to each other in the remaining days and weeks that separated her from death. In my opinion, this often does not happen in cases where people die in hospitals, where they are struggling with death, hooked up to lots of equipment and doctors are trying to avert death, even at the cost of often indecent conditions for the patient. So I put this forward as food-for-thought. I realise that doctors deserve admiration for their efforts to save lives, but I think that there are cases where death is inevitable and is only artificially delayed. We often prevent people from dying at home, which I think most of us would prefer.
You are dedicated to popularisation of biology at several levels. For example, you have been working with the Munipress Publishing House for ten years as a translator of popular science books by the Indian-American physician and biologist Siddhartha Mukherjee. What’s new in this area?
I am happy that Siddhartha Mukherjee has gained popularity among readers in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia thanks to the translations that we publish at Munipress. I had the honour of translating two of his books, the first called The Emperor of All Maladies: The Biography of Cancer, and the second The Gene. I have established courses based on these two books which are very popular. A third book by the same author, which is currently being translated into Czech, deals with the history of cell biology. It deals with the historical roots of the subject, but it also overlaps with the present by addressing the topic of cell manipulation and its future in the treatment of various diseases, including cancer. Mukherjee’s books are so well written that even a person with no knowledge of biology will be captivated, Not everyone in the field of science popularisation has this writing skill.
How do you enjoy working as a translator?
I am already working on my third book, so I have more experience now than I had ten years ago when I started translating his books. For me, the work is interesting, adventurous and creative, not least because they are not ‘classic’ textbooks. Mukherjee’s books are written in a somewhat ‘flowery’ language, so even the words in English have certain nuances that I have to render correctly in Czech. There are also mottos or excerpts from poems that I must try to translate, albeit clumsily, including the verses into Czech, which I enjoy. Luckily, a language expert always checks it for me. Gradually, I feel like I know the author well, especially because he interweaves the text with his personal experiences. He talks about his likes and dislikes, both in his job and in his private life. I find that I really like him as a person.
Mukherjee’s books became the basis of two of your courses, ‘The Stories of Science: the Gene’, which is one of the CORE subjects of the Masaryk University Common Core, and ‘The Stories of Science: cancer’, which will form one of the CORE subjects from next year. What makes these optional courses so interesting?
Like the author of the book , I also emphasise storytelling; I combine facts with the personal stories of the cure’s discoverers, or even the patients for whom the cure is sought. In this way, students identify with a specific person, and in doing so think completely differently; I believe they really enjoy it. Most importantly, they learn to think. I encourage them to share with me what they think about this or that problem, which often leads to a full-blown discussion in the auditorium. Even though the lectures are not mandatory, the courses are well-attended, and students leave feeling refreshed. I don’t want the listeners to take notes either because I don’t test examine them in the typical way at the end of the course; instead, they hand in a written essay. Consequently, they have the opportunity to relax, listen and pay attention during the lectures. In the essay, they can write down their thoughts on what we have discussed or confront the topics discussed with their own personal experience.
These subjects have an excellent rating in the subject survey, and this led to you receiving the Rector's Award of Masaryk University for outstanding educators in 2022. What did this mean to you?
You don’t prepare such courses to receive awards, but for the good of students. Of course, it's nice to be thanked explicitly, but I don’t overestimate it. Instead, I always enjoy reading the responses in the surveys; I am always touched when I read very warm reactions to my courses. Of course, I also have compulsory subjects, which are not so popular. You do not have as much freedom with them and they are taught in a more-or-less classic form. In my opinion, it is good for the students to have both types of subjects in the curriculum, as they promote both thinking and the retention of facts.
The first anniversary of Jana’s death is approaching on August 31, 2023. How are you experiencing this period?
This August would also have been our 40th wedding anniversary. This year has been very difficult for me personally. Many people considered us to be the ideal married couple, and I think we were really close to that, which makes it all the more difficult for me. But I know that many other people are experiencing the same pain. I cope by sticking to a daily routine of work activities and these commitments help me. My second point of reference is my family and my children; we recently had a fifth grandchild! I will commemorate our wedding anniversary on August 4 at a concert of our favourite musicians, the groups Javory and Hradišťan, and we will remember the anniversary of her death in the family circle.
You also continue to teach Jana’s classes ‘Tumour Biology for Everyone – or Cell Philosophy’. How do you prepare for classes?
Jana taught this course for ten years and focused on teaching the basics of oncology in a popular manner. Half of the course consists of teaching how everything works in healthy and cancerous cells, on how cancer develops and why. The second half of the course is an overlap into the social sciences, about unhealthy tendencies in human society. As a true biologist, Jana enjoyed finding analogies between the life of cells and society; for this she was willing to study a lot of literature in sociology, economics, systems theory, politics and other sciences. Her book is a recommended reading for this course, and it gives plenty of food-for-thought. One can be inspired by biological systems and think about whether it is worth explaining similar phenomena in the world of cells and humans with the same laws. Jana concluded her course, which was very popular, by essays, which were often extraordinary. Students often expressed their fascination with the teaching style that Jana developed. This prompted me me to try lead and develop the course further. I have her audio-visual recordings and PowerPoint presentations, but I now need to adapt everything to the style in which I teach. I’ve been working on this for months, but I’m still not finished.
In January, you received the Silver Medal of the Rector of MUNI for development of the university during your time as Director of the Department of Experimental Biology. Is that why you now have more time for science and its popularisation?
I was surprised at how much time the Directorship took me, especially in light of Jana's departure. I blame myself for being so busy for such a long time; I gave in to the insistence of my colleagues, who wanted me to continue in the position and, as a result, I was Director for a very long time. Though everything worked well , and I believe that the faculty management was satisfied with my work – which was finally confirmed by the Silver Medal of Masaryk University – I think that things can easily slip into a routine under the same management. The new Director, Prof. Vítězslav Bryja, has come up with new ideas and the Department is running very well. My daily routine has also changed in that I no longer have to attend so many meetings. I am still the Deputy Director of the Department, but giving up some of my previous functions has freed me up and I do not feel so stressed anymore. As a biologist, I think that long-term stress determines whether a person stays healthy or not. That´s why I now devote much more time to taking care of Jana’s legacy, preparing new lectures and translations and, of course, spending time with my family.
On September 24, a group of graduates from the teacher training program in mathematics and physics visited us. They completed their studies in 1970, so we gave them a tour to show how the faculty has changed since then.
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