editorial
Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences
T
he results of a major study with the above title have recently been published by the National Academy Press; it can be accessed at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/ 12809.html. The study was a joint effort by multiple segments of the National Research Council organizations, from physics to earth sciences to chemistry to life sciences, and its preparation was supported by no less than three federal agencies and two private ones. This is because, of course, the project encompasses a very large and complex intersection of many fields. This report is worth reading by all chemists. The report correctly points out that the convenient traditional sociology of dividing the world of science into the physical sciences and the biological sciences is gradually dissolving into a robust partnership of physical ideas and biological challenges. The report presents five “Grand Challenges” of the intersection. Three are: a) Can we gain enough insight into the biological structures, capabilities, and processes that are the bases of living systems to construct systems with lifelike characteristics that are capable, for example, of synthesizing materials or performing functions in ways unknown in natural biology? b) Can we understand how the human brainOperhaps Nature’s most complex systemOworks and build on that understanding to predict brain function? c) Can we deepen our understanding of how genes and the environment interact to produce living organisms to comprehend how organisms change over time, including the processes of ageing and healing? If you read the popular news, you will know that some progress on (a) was recently announced! One purpose of this study was to articulate important Grand ChallengesOtopics that would produce sweeping progress in science and daughter technologies and societal benefit and that seem plausible in the context of current progress. Another purpose was to recommend how progress could be accelerated. One way, naturally, is cross-disciplinary education of scientistsOI believe this obvious idea is already progressing well and that to overemphasize it could be damaging to other science priorities. Another way is that relevant scientific societiesOwhich have too long stood apart from one anotherOembrace some common goals and cooperate on them. A third is, of course, research funding, but in particular funding that encourages cross-disciplinary training.
10.1021/AC101475T 2010 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Published on Web 06/30/2010
There is much in this report that should be of interest to folks who measure things (us analytical chemists, of course). Chapter 5, entitled “Enabling Technologies and Tools for Research”, contains many choice observations. A thoughtprovoking one is that it is important to consider the size scales on which measurements need to be improved. Another is, “Molecular recognition is arguably the single-most-important molecular process. It is the key to the structure-specific association of a macromolecule (protein or nucleic acid) with another molecule and is the basis for a number of subcellular activities. These include protein-ligand binding, catalysis, the action of receptors, the formation and operation of mechanical structures in the cell, the generation of energy and vectorial movement of charge, and sensing... astonishingly, it still is not well understood at the molecular level.” This is the vexing problem inherent in selective analytical reactivity, to which we can all relate and cheer onward. (I reiterate here my prior admonition for analytical chemists to engage with chemical synthesis.) Another is that, for measurements within individual cells, one must cope with high macromolecular concentrations, an extremely wide structural and concentration range of different molecular species communicating with one another by chemical transport and directed interactions, and more. The discussion of the chemical complexity within cells is very well-informed and should provoke ideas among more than a few analytical chemists. I apologize; I cannot do justice to it in this small space. Analytical Chemistry is determined to do its part in the above challenges by selecting for publication the manuscripts that offer significant and important insights and methodologies. Prospective authors should not imagine that limits exist on the range of measurement science on biological entities that is appropriate for a submission.
JULY 1, 2010 / ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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