11:15, 4 May, 2022
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Karen Trchunyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, is a promising young scientist, Doctor of Biological Sciences, and professor. He is an author and co-author of over 50 articles published in international science and technology repositories. The number of references to his studies is approximately 1300, H-index fluctuates within the range of 21-23, depending on the repository – Google Scholar, Web of Sciences, Scopus. Karen Trchunyan is one of the participants in the ADVANCE grant program by the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) and is engaged in a research project in the realm of biotechnology.
How did you make a decision to pursue science?
I used to dream of becoming an aircraft designer as I was fond of airplanes and anything related to them. I still like to study airplanes. We’ve got immense scientific traditions, both from paternal and maternal sides, and I represent the third generation of the scientific family. I, too, decided to carry on with the family tradition. My paternal grandfather Hambardzum Trchunyan worked in the Yerevan Computer Research Development Institute (known as the Mergelyan Institute) and had left Russia for Armenia with Sergey Mergelyan and other friends and had become one of the founders of certain scientific directions in the institute. My maternal grandfather Weller Vasilyan was the first biophysicist who defended his PhD dissertation in Armenia. Interestingly enough, I also studied and graduated from the Department of Biophysics of the Faculty of Biology. He ran the Scientific Research Institute for Plant Protection, being engaged in the creation of efficient biological ways to fight pests.
There is a curious pattern in fact; the research we’ve been conducting turns out to be related to both of my grandfathers’ scientific activities to a certain extent. One is of agricultural orientation, as was my maternal grandfather’s, while my paternal grandfather was a chemist who studied the interaction of certain metals and hydrogen. Both fields appeared to come together in me, completely by chance.
Did you have a role model of a scientist in the family? How did you envision a scientist?
In order to become a scientist, you’ve got to eagerly love what you do. The image of a scientist in my family was embodied by my father Armen Trchunyan who was also a biologist and created a notable scientific school, continued by his students, including me.
A scientist for me is a person who invents the new, contributes to the humanity with their hard intellectual work, builds an international network, visits foreign countries, shares experience, takes part in scientific debates. I have also gone through plenty of hardships in that respect; you need to prove and support your viewpoint with facts in scientific debates, whilst there are world-famous scientists who you need to illustrate and prove your viewpoint to, making them accept it.
Could you recall such an experience?
In 2010 our scientific team proved that the hydrogenase enzyme in intestinal villi is convertible and can work both ways. By that time, various international scientific research teams had proven the enzyme to work one way only and didn’t want to accept the fact. Our research data on hydrogenase conversion was a crucial event in biology and biochemistry. I first travelled to Germany with a research grant where I introduced our discovery to my supervisor Gary Sawers, who is a renowned specialist and has devoted all his life to enzyme research. Imagine a scientist from Armenia, claiming they have proven the opposite, though it was an addition to the before existing knowledge rather than an antagonistic discovery. The supervisor’s greatness consists in not turning anything into antagonism, but in welcoming additions and elaborating on the knowledge. To our great delight, he came to accept it. We have been collaborating for a long time so far and our approach has been welcomed by Gary Sawers, as well as other renowned scientists. There are serious specialists in our scientific fields in the world – Michael Adams from the University of Georgia, USA, Gary Sawers from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, Rudolf K. Thauer from the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt, and many other scientists whom we talked to and tried our best to comprehend each other’s approach, so to say, with a pen and paper or at the board. To our delight, they accepted our evidence and approach of ours, which is quite hard to get as you’re not a member of one of the best laboratories in the world to increase your chances to be right. As they say, knowledge wins in the end. In case you’re right, the result is there, even after having to overcome constant hardships. Indeed, there might be cases when you get the result, though it doesn’t get to be welcomed, for instance, out of envy as science is highly competitive.
Anyway, I enjoy such scientific debates as they give birth to the truth. Debates might be heated at times, but that’s merely because you want to have a say in science.
Unlike the rest of the interviewed scientists, you hold a state position as well. How do you manage to combine?
My educational background in natural sciences and being a scientist help gain confidence and freedom. That’s because science and the system you’ve passed through enable you to know your own mind, to be able to say yes or no in terms of administration. I coordinate the field of higher education, implementing my expertise and experience in day-to-day communication, both personal and job-related.
Due to my current business with a state position, the intensity of scientific activity has dropped, though I do keep on with it at the expense of my spare time, having published and still publishing scientific articles meanwhile. I do not view science as a job, it is rather a passion. Once you’ve passed a certain path, definite expectations are shaped not only on the local but also on the international level. Therefore, I am highly consistent in scientific results as our team has its niche in the world and everybody expects new studies and new results from us.
What was the most impressive discovery for you in your field?
My icon is Nobel Prize winner Peter D. Mitchell as he is one of the discoverers of the core principle of life. His discovery is extremely stimulating for me. Mitchell tried to comprehend how life works, how energy is generated, where it comes from, and how it is synthesized. Here is his book (reaches out to a book on the desk), sent to our laboratory personally by him. Given the fact he made his discoveries in the 1970s when none of the modern equipment was available, they become much more valuable. I like his approach of not only experimenting in order to get evidence but also hypothesizing possible mechanisms in nature to find evidence. Currently, we are trying to figure out whether fermentation occurs and works on the key principles of Mitchell’s theory and, if so, how they work. We’ve had much success in this, in 2019, after a lot of painstaking work, we published an article in a well-known journal Trends in Biochemical Sciences, referring to the principles of Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory.
Would you please share your experience of participation in the ADVANCE grant program?
It is a highly riveting program as it establishes interdisciplinary connections among team members. The research team formed within the framework of the program does not focus on a single specialization. Instead, it makes use of the valuable knowledge of specialists from diverse realms. We used to do teamwork previously but this is interdisciplinary teamwork. We might know each other as individual scientists but had never got the chance to collaborate. I strongly believe that both international and Armenian science needs to be based on cooperation, emphasizing the development of our local science. The ADVANCE program is notable also because the team is led by world-famous scientist professor Garabed Antranikian (Germany) who shares his experience. The project we have selected cannot have instant results as it requires long-running experiments. Through the program, we managed to bring together diverse views and approaches within a single project, which is a huge contribution in terms to the formation of scientific culture in Armenia and among Armenian scientists.
What would you tell a child eager to become a scientist?
Never regret and never give up on your dreams.
Has there been any turning point in your career?
As I went in for chess and had quite good results, was a Category 1 player, I was considering a career in chess at some point. The 8th and 9th grades appeared to be that very turning point when I had to decide whether to become a professional chess player or to enter university. I gave up chess and opted for biology.
What motivates you to get up in the morning?
First off, that’s natural, I can’t help but wake up. If viewed philosophically, we get up to create or do something new. Moreover, when a person is engaged in education or science, educating and passing on knowledge to the younger generation becomes an indispensable part and the driving force of life.
What could be regarded as a career peak for you?
In case me and my research team achieve the goals, we’ve set and make the discovery we intend to, it would truly be our career peak. The reason is the research we’ve been conducting is of practical and universal significance. Hopefully, it will get to be appreciated with much-coveted scientific awards.
Previous interviews of the “10 questions to a scientist” series are below:
Nothing brings as much joy to a person as the feeling of the reward of a scientific result. Ani Paloyan
The story of Anoxybacillus karvacharensis found in the geothermal spring of Artsakh as a source of inspiration. Diana Ghevondyan
In an American lab 20 years ago I felt like in a Hollywood movie. Anna Poladyan
Science excelled all jobs because it is perspective: Sargis Aghayan
The easiest way to change the world is to do science: Sona Hunanyan