A brief history of the hypothesis

Two terms used as frameworks for scientific experimentation--the "hypothesis" and the "model"--carry distinct philosophical assumptions, with important consequences for the practicing scientist.     

The American Society for Cell Biology 42nd Annual Meeting

December I4·汛 2002.San FranltscO0mw瞩0Hm尸r@引d@川)】oh t口叩@J歹口口厂0而o凶c卜忻k【D{dhn口,bmMnO鹰卜n@nb0山rKeynote symposium:opportunities&〔卜allenges in〔elf BiologyScio’"aK oe’ember I4·占刃opm阶BV。0阴.B卜C匕5沏nbId0nsmn仰回.丛h(hm。U"加@n仰。fweC。no巾hw】小。。Don肌c卜atW口刀0ndh,M0伯’ OJHeolth ondleww觎uiratooread0n勿ifySymposlaSundcK De’em4er IS8t0D omNu咖alh瞩i曲ng aM DynomksDan0阴o’oyo,w竹e’sify 0.叮凹hhDovid SpectoF乙M Spr…M忖。’lob。foryJoan A.Steitt,…     

Political advocacy by the American Society for Cell Biology and its partners

I trace how the American Society for Cell Biology became a strong political advocate for the scientific community. I celebrate how good leadership and an effective staff enabled its energetic volunteer organization to have an impact, but I also ask how the effort can be made more successful.Many scientists take for granted that their scientific societies advocate for the well being of their individual members and the health of science. However, advocacy is a relatively recent development that emerged over the past two decades. Advocacy is essential in a democracy because science competes for taxpayer dollars with every other activity supported by the federal government. Advocacy is also important to ensure that lawmakers adopt sensible policies. I review how the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and its allies learned how to fulfill this obligation, and I ask the reader to join the effort. The objective of these advocacy efforts is to influence political decisions through education and information, but the efforts by scientific societies are completely nonpartisan. Support from both political parties is essential to meet our goals.During the 1970s and 1980s biomedical scientists discussed federal funding and public policies that affected our science. Each year the public policy staff of the Federation of Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) helped member societies reach a consensus recommendation on the level of federal funding for the biosciences. However, we tended to talk to ourselves because we lacked effective ways to communicate with politicians or the outside world. For the most part we relegated the responsibility for advocacy to medical school deans and presidents of research universities. Their professional associations—the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Association of American Universities (AAU)—generally did a reasonable job of representing the interests of the scientists who worked at their schools.     

A brief history of error

The spindle checkpoint monitors chromosome alignment on the mitotic and meiotic spindle. When the checkpoint detects errors, it arrests progress of the cell cycle while it attempts to correct the mistakes. This perspective will present a brief history summarizing what we know about the checkpoint, and a list of questions we must answer before we understand it.     

A brief history of TOR

The TOR (target of rapamycin) serine/threonine kinases are fascinating in that they influence many different aspects of eukaryote physiology including processes often dysregulated in disease. Beginning with the initial characterization of rapamycin as an antifungal agent, studies with yeast have contributed greatly to our understanding of the molecular pathways in which TORs operate. Recently, building on advances in quantitative MS, the rapamycin-dependent phosphoproteome in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was elucidated. These studies emphasize the central importance of TOR and highlight its many previously unrecognized functions. One of these, the regulation of intermediary metabolism, is discussed.     

上海市生物化学与分子生物学学会50年发展历程

本文回顾了上海市生物化学与分子生物学学会50年的发展历程,主要介绍了该学会历史沿革及在人才培养和科学研究方面的成绩。