Ben Barres. Credit: Stanford School of Medicine
Over his 63 years of life, Ben Barres has a left a lasting mark on the the scientific community—both through his revolutionary work on glial cells and his role as an advocate for gender and sexual minorities in the scientific community. From opening up a neglected field of neurobiology to further research, training now-invaluable scientists in his Stanford lab, and demanding action and reflection from the scientific community, one thing is clear: Ben Barres is worth remembering.
Ben Barres (born Barbara) grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. As a child, he experienced gender dysphoria. “internally I felt strongly that I was a boy" Barres recalls. "This was evident in everything about my behavior.” His passion for science and mathematics allowed him to attend undergraduate school in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and a medical degree at Dartmouth College in Hanover. Later, he would leave medicine to pursue a doctorate in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a postdoc at University College London.
Barres' research in Boston and London focused on glial cells. These cells function as a sort of supporting class in the nervous system and include oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, and several other cell types. At the time, neurons were the overwhelming focus of neurobiology and the much less glamorous glial cells were largely ignored. As Barres explains, “ninety-nine per cent of neuroscientists work on 1% of the interesting questions. It is so much more exciting to work on the untouched mysteries!” At his postdoc, Barres proved that developing neurons provided signaled oligodendrocytes to insulate neurons by myelinating neuronal axons.
In 1993, Barres started his own lab at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. There, he continued to conduct revolutionary research n glial cells. Along with his lab members, he discovered glial cells' active and essential roles in neuronal survival, growth, plasticity, and maintenance of the blood-brain-barrier. All of this research has become invaluable in the modern research landscape, and Barres' lab pioneered an active, exciting field of research.
For Barres, the Stanford lab wasn't just work—he felt entirely at home working on glial cells with a community of students and faculty. “I’ve always considered my colleagues as my family, and my students and my postdocs as my children,” Barres explains. Indeed, even after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2016 he continued to mentor students and postdocs, wrote future letters of support for their career developments after his death.
Finally, Barres can be remembered as a fearless and candid voice demanding progress from the scientific community. In 2006, his essay titled ‘Does gender matter?' (B. Barres Nature 442, 133–136; 2006) exposed and invalidated the assertion that "women are not advancing in science because of innate inability." As a female, Barres wasn't aware of just how much gender affected daily life. After transitioning in 1997, he realized the extent of discrimination women faced and became a voice for women in STEM. Barres became the first openly trans member of the US National Academy of Sciences and writes about his life in The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist.
Even as Pride Month draws to a close, we must recognize that the experience of sexual and gender minorities must be advocated for year-long. Ben Barres was a figure that lived fearlessly, and in doing so served not only as a pioneering neurobiologist but as an inspiration to those who are underrepresented and disproportionately denied access from STEM fields. Before his death, Barres spoke about his determination in becoming the person he wanted to be, regardless of the obstacles. “I lived life on my terms: I wanted to switch genders, and I did. I wanted to be a scientist, and I was. I wanted to study glia, and I did that too. I stood up for what I believed in and I like to think I made an impact, or at least opened the door for the impact to occur. I have zero regrets and I’m ready to die. I’ve truly had a great life.”