analytical chemistry April 1975, Vol. 47, NO. 4 Editor: H E R B E R T A. LAITINEN EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington D.C. 20036 Phone. 202:872-4600 Teletype: 710-8220151 M a n a g i n g Editor: Josephine M. Petruzzi Associate Editor: Andrew A. Husovsky E d i t o r i a l Assistants: Barbara Cassatt Linda A. Ferragut, GRAPHICS AND PRODUCTION STAFF Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Associate Manager: Charlotte C. Sayre Art Director: Norman W. Favin Artist: Linda McKnight A s s i s t a n t Editor:
Nancy J. Oddenino
PROCESSING DEPARTMENT, EDITORIAL EASTON,PA. Associate Editor: Elizabeth R. Rufe ADVISOHY BOARD: Allen J.
Bard David 6. Buck, J r Warren B. Crummett M A Evenson A "F Findeis Kenneth W Gardiner J a c i hi. Gill, Roiert A. Hofkader, Mdrjorie G. Horning, R. S. Juvet, Jr., Walter C. McCrone, Oscar Menis, Eugene Sawicki
F. Boltz, E. G. Brame, Richard
INSTRUMENTATION ADVISORY PANEL: Stanley R. Crouch Robert W. Hannah J. J. Kirkland R o n h d H Laessig Marvi; Margoshes Harold M. McNai; David Seligson, R'. K. Skogerboe, Donald E. Smith
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C o n t r i b u t i n g Editor: Claude A. Lucchesi Department of Chemistry, Korthweatern University, Evanston, Ill. 60201 Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 1155 16th Street, N. W. Washington, D.C. 20036
Books a n d J o u r n a l s Division John K Crum Director Virginia E. Stewart Assistant t o t h e Director Charles R. Bertsch Head, E d i t o r i a l Processing D e p a r t m e n t D. H. Michael Bowen Head, J o u r n a l s Department Bacil Guiley Head, G r a p h i c s a n d Production Department Seldon W. Terrant Head, Research a n d Development D e p a r t m e n t
Biomedical Analytical Chemistry Clinical analysis has, in recent years, received a great deal of attention both in medical and analytical circles. With the increased emphasis on automation, on new instrumental approaches, and on the handling of microsamples, this trend is perfectly logical and can be anticipated to continue for the forseeable future. Yet clinical analysis represents only one aspect of a larger subject that appears destined to play an increasingly important role in the years to come. If we consider the research frontier in which biochemists and medical scientists make measurements on biological systems, we can readily define an important role for the analytical chemist as a systems measurement specialist. The system in question can be at the molecular, membrane, organelle, cell, organ, or organism level. A t each level, the approach can involve the traditional one of sampling, sample treatment, and measurement, or it might involve measurements on the system as it stands. In any case, quantitative information is needed as to concentrations or amounts of chemical species, perhaps by spatial distribution or as a function of time. To acquire such information will need the cooperative efforts of medical, biochemical, and analytical specialists, none of whom could adequately solve the problem alone. The most important trend in analytical chemistry today is towards an increased emphasis on the biological direction. Often this trend is stated in terms of clinical analysis, but it would appear that the broader area of biomedical analytical chemistry is more descriptive. The shortage of candidates for academic positions in this speciality is striking, in view of the highly competitive situation for jobs in most areas. Biochemists, as well as analytical chemists in the early stages of their careers, might profitably consider the opportunities in this field for individual as well as interdisciplinary research.
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