Doctor in the wings

Deirdre Newman

CORONA DEL MAR -- Most 9-year-olds don’t know the meaning of the word

“genetics,” let alone how much potential they have for curing disease.

Not Mason Hemmel.

He discusses genetics with the same casual ease as talking about how

he loves playing baseball and taking kung-fu lessons.

In fact, Mason’s grasp of genetics is so sophisticated that he

recently completed the first lecture series on the subject sponsored by

the UC Irvine College of Medicine.

Mason, a third-grader at John Malcolm Elementary School in Laguna

Niguel, was first drawn to genetics by reading an article on the human

genome in an issue of his father’s Popular Science magazine.

Although he said he didn’t know what a genome was at the time, he was

inspired to hit the library and take in a book on the subject. When he

talks about it, his bright blue eyes sparkle with electricity.

“After I knew more about it, I was just fascinated,” Mason said. “What

really fascinated me was when I looked at the copyright -- it said 1998,

and that seemed sort of oldish.”

When his father mentioned the family had received an invitation to the

genetics lecture series, Mason jumped at the chance faster than you can

say DNA.

So Mason, accompanied by various family members, attended the four

lectures. He was the youngest one to attend, he said, and received a

certificate of completion personally from the dean of the College of

Medicine, Thomas Cesario.

Mason said the last lecture about the genetics of cancer was his

favorite.

“It was the most in-depth and had examples for real-world people,”

Mason said.

Mason said he understood most of the lectures and even taught a lesson

for his class at school based on his knowledge of genetics.

His grandfather, Martin Brower of Corona del Mar, said he was

impressed with Mason’s attention span during the lectures and his

comprehension of the complex information.

“It’s an amazing thing,” said Brower, once a director of public

relations for the Irvine Co. and a former Pilot columnist. “He sat

through the one-hour lectures listening and was completely absorbed. Then

he would explain it to me.”

Mason, who has his hopes set on Stanford University, said there are

two conditions he would like to find a cure for -- cancer and the common

cold.

“Then I would be the most famous scientist in the world and no one’s

done it yet,” Mason said.