Tomatoes and gout - the unusual subject of a Shakespearean sonnet.
Otago research investigating the role of tomatoes on the symptoms of gout has become the rather surprising subject of Shakespearean sonnet.
The sonnet Bolognese and Salsa You Should Ditch, written by Dr Sam Illingworth, a lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK, outlines the research which has found for the first time that tomatoes can cause a painful flare up of symptoms in some gout sufferers.
One of the study's authors, Dr Tony Merriman of Biochemistry, says he is “intrigued and flattered” that this research has been used in this way.
"It gives us another angle with regards to communication, particularly when we go into the community. For example when I go up the East Coast to talk to Ngati Porou I will tell the story of tomatoes and gout, and include the sonnet. I will also forward the sonnet to various gout educator societies in New Zealand and overseas I have connections with."
"It gives us another angle with regards to communication, particularly when we go into the community."
Each week Dr Illingworth looks for a scientific story he thinks is both interesting and slightly different for his Poetry of Science blog.
“I then read through the journal article and write a poem about it, trying to convey the crux of the scientific message,” he told the Otago Bulletin Board.
“The reason that I chose the paper on gout and tomatoes was that I thought it sounded like a really interesting story, and I myself was interested in learning a bit more about gout. The paper was very well written, and it had an excellent scientific narrative, with some key findings and an integrity in terms of the acknowledgement for further work.”
Dr Illingworth says he writes his poems using specific rhyming structures, because he thinks they help to reflect on the scientific process.
“I chose a Shakespearean sonnet for this topic because I felt this particular structure would allow me to communicate the narrative of the science (which was fairly linear) in the most effective way.”
"I chose a Shakespearean sonnet for this topic because I felt this particular structure would allow me to communicate the narrative of the science ... in the most effective way."
Other recent poems include The Firefly's Sex Life Has Been Upset, a Spenserian stanza about a study which found that the glow of LED lights might throw off the flirtations of fireflies, and Are Fish Getting High on Cocaine?, a Kyrielle about a piece of recent research that has shown drugs to be found in surface waters in Canadian rivers.
“I think that this type of communication is really important in terms of conveying the research to a new audience. I am in the process of conducting a study into the efficacy of using poetry to communicate science, so hopefully I will soon have some quantifiable evidence to support my hypothesis that poetry can help to open the door onto scientific understanding and encourage further learning.”
The gout findings were published in a paper in the international journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders in August.
Bolognese and Salsa You Should Ditch
By Sam Illingworth
Gout is a type of arthritis in joints;
One that's predominant in the big toe,
It can occur when urate disappoints,
And lingers even though its time to go.
Once you have gout there are certain food sorts,
Which can cause it to flare out of control
Then urate crystals will build up like quartz,
That feel like walking through hot, burning coal.
People have said that tomatoes are one,
That they can act as a gout trigger food;
Now research has found that chances are strong,
That this red fruit can mean urate's accrued.
So bolognese and salsa you should ditch,
As this “disease of kings” is one mean bitch.