The founder of the ‘Trust Me, I'm A "Biologist"’ Facebook page, Mitya, kindly agreed to tell us more about his connection to science and how he created the page in the first place.
"I hold a PhD in medical sciences and have been involved in medical and biological research for about a decade, both in academia and in a startup. My research interests range from the biology of aging and longevity to cultivated meat and CAR NK cell therapies. Let’s just say I’ve spent more time around petri dishes than most people spend around their kitchen dishes," he joked.
Mitya tells us that the idea for this page came to him after he noticed that all the science meme pages weren't really focusing on biology and medicine.
"At first, I was worried we’d run out of material but after all, there are only so many jokes about fruit flies and pipettes, right? Turns out I was completely wrong! The ideas are endless, and the page took off faster than a lab intern running after a rolling tube of PCR samples," he said.
"We soon opened a group so that anyone, not just admins, could post content. It’s always fascinating to see what people share, whether it’s a brand-new joke about lab life or a heartfelt question about experimental mishaps."
Since its creation in 2011, the ‘Trust Me, I'm A "Biologist"’ Facebook page has garnered over 1.6 million followers. The founder believes its success lies in it being the first meme page exclusively dedicated to biology, resonating with a broad audience of scientists, researchers, students, professionals, and teachers.
"Before “Trust Me, I’m A Biologist,” there wasn’t really a place to find memes that poked fun at the daily research grind—like that special moment when you realize you’ve been calibrating the wrong pipette for 45 minutes. These kinds of jokes remind people they’re not alone in their lab struggles. At the end of a long day, sometimes seeing someone else’s hilarious gel electrophoresis fail can turn your own fiasco into a shared laugh."
Having run a page that's been blending humor and science for over a decade, Mitya believes humor is essential in science.
"Let’s be honest: biology (and research in general) can be stressful. If you can’t laugh about the time you accidentally used the wrong buffer, turning your cells into goo—how else are you going to cope? Sharing these misadventures not only provides comic relief but also builds camaraderie among fellow scientists. Sure, you can overdo it, but as long as it’s done in good spirit, humor is a fantastic way to remind everyone that behind every serious scientist is a real person who occasionally forgets which tube they labeled five minutes ago. Science should be fun!" he said.
The previously mentioned study backs up Mitya's opinion as it claims that including amusing elements in scientific content can be quite beneficial.
The new study published in the Journal of Science Communication on March 10, 2025, and led by Alexandra Lynn Frank, a doctoral student at the Grady College of Mass Communication, has found that humor "can both have positive impacts on the likability of a communicator, as well as enhancing perceptions that the message is an appropriate and legitimate source of scientific information."
"Politicians, entertainers, and advertisers often use humor because people tend to like and connect with people who can make them laugh. When people find something funny, they're usually less likely to argue with or reject the message or the person delivering it. Our research supports this idea. We found that humor can aid scientists' communication efforts, but only if people think they're funny," Frank further explained.
