E ditor - in - chief
editorial
William S. Hancock
Barnett Institute and Department of Chemistry Northeastern University 360 Huntington Ave. 341 Mugar Bldg. Boston, MA 02115 617-373-4881; fax 617-373-2855
[email protected] Associate E ditors Joshua LaBaer Harvard Medical School György Marko-Varga AstraZeneca and Lund University
W
e have been observing an impressive growth in proteomics on a global basis, and it is appropriate to welcome our new colleagues to the international proteomics community. Thus, from time to time, the Journal of Proteome Research will have guest editorials that give an update on the growth in proteomics around the world. This is the first in that series.
Cons u lting E ditor Jeremy Nicholson Imperial College London E ditorial adv isory board Ruedi H. Aebersold ETH Hönggerberg Leigh Anderson Plasma Proteome Institute Ettore Appella U.S. National Cancer Institute Rolf Apweiler European Bioinformatics Institute Ronald Beavis Manitoba Centre for Proteomics John J. M. Bergeron McGill University Richard Caprioli Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Christine Colvis U.S. National Institutes of Health R. Graham Cooks Purdue University Thomas E. Fehniger AstraZeneca Catherine Fenselau University of Maryland Daniel Figeys University of Ottawa Sam Hanash Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Stanley Hefta Bristol-Myers Squibb Denis Hochstrasser University of Geneva Michael J. Hubbard University of Melbourne Donald F. Hunt University of Virginia Barry L. Karger Northeastern University Daniel C. Liebler Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Matthias Mann Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry David Muddiman North Carolina State University Robert F. Murphy Carnegie Mellon University Gilbert S. Omenn University of Michigan Aran Paulus Bio-Rad Laboratories Jasna Peter-Katalini´c University of Muenster Clifford H. Spiegelman Texas A&M University Ruth VanBogelen Pfizer Global Research & Development Peter Wagner Zyomyx Scot R. Weinberger GenNext Technologies Keith Williams Proteome Systems John R. Yates, III The Scripps Research Institute
Proteomics in New Zealand Natural resources contribute to a large part of New Zealand’s gross domestic product and are the core business of many of its largest companies. It is not surprising, then, that much of the biological research that supports our export-driven economy focuses on such commodities as meat, wool, dairy, forestry, and horticultural products. Protein science is fundamental to this endeavor, and a vibrant proteomics culture now underpins much of the nation’s research and development effort. Bill Jordan at Victoria University of Wellington was at the forefront of the 2D gel revolution in the 1980s and is widely acknowledged as being the father of proteomics in New Zealand. He has been instrumental in forging close ties with our neighbors across the Tasman Sea and organized the recent Australasian Proteomics Society satellite meeting. Initially, most protein analysis was performed at the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility, known as APAF, but independent proteomics centers have since arisen from a desire, rather than a coordinated need, to develop skills and intellectual property inhouse. Consequently, New Zealand now supports a plethora of small units principally based around single ion trap mass spectrometers. Three ABI QStars, a Bruker TOFTOF, a Finnigan FTICR, and a Finnigan Orbitrap are distributed among various labs, and those researchers are leading the foray into the domain of high-end analysis. The goal should now be to rejoin forces at a regional level to tackle the next set of proteomics questions.
DAVID GREENWOOD University of Auckland
Journal of Proteome Research • Vol. 5, No. 10, 2006 2495
