Great Salt Lake Institute, Westminster College Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia ; Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Front Microbiol. 2014 Jun 4;5:192. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00192. eCollection 2014.
A history of halophile research reveals the commitment of scientists to uncovering the secrets of the limits of life, in particular life in high salt concentration and under extreme osmotic pressure. During the last 40 years, halophile scientists have indeed made important contributions to extremophile research, and prior international halophiles congresses have documented both the historical and the current work. During this period of salty discoveries, female scientists, in general, have grown in number worldwide. But those who worked in the field when there were small numbers of women sometimes saw their important contributions overshadowed by their male counterparts. Recent studies suggest that modern female scientists experience gender bias in matters such as conference invitations and even representation among full professors. In the field of halophilic microbiology, what is the impact of gender bias? How has the participation of women changed over time? What do women uniquely contribute to this field? What are factors that impact current female scientists to a greater degree? This essay emphasizes the "her story" (not "history") of halophile discovery.
嗜盐菌研究的历史揭示了科学家们致力于揭示生命极限的秘密，特别是在高盐浓度和极端渗透压下的生命。在过去的 40 年里，嗜盐菌科学家确实为极端微生物研究做出了重要贡献，之前的国际嗜盐菌大会记录了历史和当前的工作。在这个发现盐分的时期，世界各地的女性科学家的数量总体上有所增加。但是，在女性人数较少的时期从事该领域工作的女性，她们的重要贡献有时会被男性同行所掩盖。最近的研究表明，现代女性科学家在会议邀请等方面经历了性别偏见，甚至在正教授中也存在代表性不足的情况。在嗜盐微生物学领域，性别偏见的影响是什么？女性的参与随时间发生了怎样的变化？女性对该领域有何独特的贡献？哪些因素对当前的女性科学家产生了更大的影响？本文强调了嗜盐菌发现的“她的故事”（而不是“历史”）。
