SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
AT LAST, A SYNCHROTRON FOR THE MIDDLE EAST Facility will allow scientists in the region to do cutting-edge X-ray analysis as early as 2007 AMANDA YARNELL, C&EN WASHINGTON
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ONSTRUCTION ON THE MIDDLE
East's first synchrotron began this summer at Al-Balqa'Applied University in Jordan. The facility, slated to open in 2007 or early 2008, is known as SESAME, for Synchrotron light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East. It will produce intense light beams for cutting-
edge environmental, biomedical, and materials research. "SESAME will provide an environment for stimulating scientific activity and cooperation" in the Middle East, according to Zehra Sayers, chair of SESAMES scientific committee and a professor of engineering and natural sciences at Sabanci University, inTurkey But more important,
OPEN SESAME Consortium brings a synchrotron radiation source to the Middle East
Sayers tells C&EN, SESAME "will help to alleviate political tension among scientists and promote peace in the region.,, Synchrotrons send electrons hurtling through a circular tunnel at speeds close to that of light. The accelerated electrons give off light of varying energies—including infrared, ultraviolet, and X-rays—that scientists can harness to probe the molecular makeup of everything from inorganic minerals to proteins. There are currently more than 50 synchrotron facilities worldwide, most located in the U.S., Europe, andJapan. A handful of other countries—including China, Brazil, India, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand—have built their own synchrotrons. Scientists from countries without one often are forced to travel great distances to do their experiments. For instance, Middle Eastern scientists like Sayers who already perform synchrotron-based research must journey to Europe or elsewhere to get synchrotron time. These scientists.would certainly benefit from a synchrotron closer to home. And SESAME's backers predict that the synchrotron user community in the region will expand rapidly once the facility opens its doors. To nurture such interest, SESAME has begun sponsoring educational workshops to teach local scientists about the kinds of experiments SESAME will make possible. One such experiment is a popular technique in protein X-ray crystallography in which the protein's sulfur atoms are replaced with selenium atoms, allowing one to obtain crucial information for solving
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the protein's structure. This and the wide variety of other techniques made possible by SESAME will allow Middle Eastern sci entists to characterize local pathogens and facilitate drug development, monitor soil quality and the nutrient content of crops, investigate the tolerance of local plants to various pollutants, and analyze artifacts from archaeological sites. The idea of building a synchrotron in the Middle East was hatched back in 1997 by Herman Winick of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and Gustaf-Adolf \bss of the German Electron Synchrotron in Hamburg. Soon thereafter, the United Na tions Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization helped make their idea a re ality with generous logistic and financial support. And although UNESCO contin ues to oversee SESAME, "the leadership and real ownership ofthe project now is be ing taken over by people from the region," Winick tells C&EN. In fact, nine Middle Eastern govern ments—Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Jor dan, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates— have become members ofSESAME. More
THE NEW SYNCHROTRON w i l l be housed
in a building financed by the Jordanian government and designed by Al-Balqa' Applied University engineers. Many of its components come from a decommis sioned synchrotron donated by the Ger man government. Eventually, substantial technical upgrades will yield a 2.5-gigaelectron-volt machine comparable with most synchrotrons in developed coun tries. The building also will house labo ratories, including ones for protein ex pression and purification, for visiting scientists. Challenges to SESAME's success re main, however. First and foremost is mon ey: Installation and technical upgrades to the synchrotron source as well as other infrastructure investments may cost as much as $40 million, Winick estimates. SESAME is hoping the European Union, the U.S., andJapan—each ofwhich has al
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ready contributed money to the effortwill foot the bill. But at the end of the day, SESAME's or ganizers believe that the dividends the proj ect will bring to the region will far outweigh itsfinancialcosts. "SESAME will be a ver satile synchrotron radiation source for all scientists in the Middle East and will pro vide an essential infrastructure for tech nological development of the region," Sav ers notes. And Winick points out that "SESAME will train a cadre of people for jobs in high tech, stimulating the techno logical capacity of the region." Further more, he adds, scientists, engineers, and technicians trained at SESAME may go on to start their own companies. SESAME's organizers also hope that the facility will combat brain drain from the region. "Experienced scientists will be at tracted by the prospect ofreturning 'home' to their regions," Sayers says. Plus, "grad uate students and young researchers will no longer have to go abroad for advanced training," she adds. Of the 56 proposals for experimental time at SESAME that have been submitContinuedonpage 54
are expected to join, Winick tells C&EN. These members have agreed to provide SESAME's annual operating budget, which is expected to amount to more than $4 mil lion when the facility opens.
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ACS NEWS
Changes In Analytical Reagents Specs
T
HE ACS COMMITTEE ON ANALYTICAL
Reagents has approved several changes and additions for the supplement to the 9th edition of "Reagent Chemicals."Tb view changes, visit the committee's home page at http://pubs.acs.org/ reagents/index.html and click on the text "Supplement to the 9th Edition." These changes were effective on Sept. 30. An online demonstration of the Web edition of "Reagent Chemicals," 9th edition, can also be accessed on this page, along with other information about the Committee on Analytical Reagents.
Dallas-Fort Worth Section Gives Award
R
OBERT H. NEILSON, A PROFESSOR OF
chemistry at Texas Christian University (TCU), has received the 2003 W. T. Doherty Recognition Award for his research in inorganic polymer chemistry, especially the preparation of new monomers and polymers based on phosphorus, boron, and silicon. The award, given by the ACS Dallas-Fort Worth Local Section, consists of $1,500 and an engraved plaque. Established in 1972, the award is named in honor of one of the founding trustees of the Robert A. Welch Foundation, which supports chemistry research in Texas. Neilson received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1969 from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Duke University in 1973. He joined the staff of T C U in 1978, becoming a full professor in 1987 and serving as chair from 1995 to 2003. In 1995, Neilson received the T C U Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Research & Creative Activity
Call For Nominations For The 2004 Edelstein Award
T
HE ACS DIVISION OF THE HISTORY OF
Chemistry (HIST) solicits nominations for the 2004 Sidney M. Edelstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry This award, first given to John Parascandola in 2002, honors the memory of the late Sidney M. Edelstein, who established the Dexter Award in 1956. It also continues the out54
C&EN
/ NOVEMBER
10,
2003
standing tradition of the Dexter Award, which ended in 2001. The Edelstein Award is sponsored by Ruth Edelstein Barish and family and is administered by HIST. In recognition of receiving the Edelstein Award, the winner is presented with an engraved plaque and the sum of $3,500, usually at a symposium honoring the winner at the ACS fall national meeting, which for 2004 will be held in Philadelphia, Aug. 22-26. The award is international in scope, and nominations are welcome from anywhere in the world. Previous winners of the Dexter and Edelstein Awards include chemists and historians from the US. and other countries. All nomination material should be sent in triplicate by Dec. 31 to John Sharkey, Chair of the Edelstein Award Committee, Pace University, Office of the Provost, One Pace Plaza, New York, N Y 10038; e-mail:
[email protected]. • P E O P L E
Academe UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Wei Wang has joined the department of chemistry and biochemistry as assistant professor. Wei was previously a postdoctoral associate at Stanford University He obtained his B.S. in physics fromTsinghua University, in China; his M.S. in physics from the University ofMiami; and his Ph.D. in biophysics from UC San Francisco.
ical and biomolecular engineering department. She will continue as professor in the department of chemical engineering. She is also a professor in the university's Micro & Nanotechnology Laboratory and at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology. Her work on the molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion is changing the thinking about how proteins hold cells together in tissues. Leckband earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Humboldt State University, Areata, Calif, as well as a master's in chemistry and a doctorate in biophysical chemistry, both from Cornell University UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH Galveston Scott R. Gilbertson has joined the university as Robert A. Welch Distinguished University Chair in Chemistry and director of the chemical biology program, a new initiative to incorporate organic chemistry and particularly synthetic organic chemistry into the biomedical research environment. Gilbertson was previously professor of chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago. •
SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
continuedfrompage 49
Shaul Mukamel has joined the faculty as the Chancellor's Professor of Chemistry He comes from the University of Rochester, where he was C. E. Mees Professor of Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy Mukamel has developed the use of laser spectroscopy to explore photosynthesis, and he is currently working on the application of the attosecond Xray. He received a doctorate in chemistry from Tel-Aviv University, in Israel.
ted so far, five are collaborative projects between scientists from two countries in the region. That's exactly the kind of effect that SESAME's backers are hoping for, notes UNESCO's Clarissa FormosaGauci, an assistant program specialist in the Division of Basic & Engineering Science. SESAME "should herald a new phase of international scientific cooperation in the region," she tells C&EN. But some Middle Eastern scientists— particularly Palestinian ones —suggest that this goal will be undermined by political tensions in the region that create enormous obstacles for scientists traveling toJordan. "We hope to be able to force boundaries, put limitations to the test, and be able to provide service to all scientists," Sayers tells C&EN. "But we cannot underestimate the influence of the political climate on issues like mobility in the region." •
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANACHAMPAIGN Deborah E. Leckband, who joined the faculty in 1995, is the new head of the chem-
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