Learning from Gobind Khorana: “The difficult we do today,the impossible tomorrow”

Prof. Har Gobind Khorana was one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Drawing on his strong roots in organic chemistry, he had a remarkable ability to select and focus his intellect on successfully addressing some of the most important challenges in modern biology in a career spanning nearly 6 decades. His pioneering contributions in gene synthesis and protein structure–function studies, and more broadly in what he termed “chemical biology,” continue to have a major impact on modern biomedical science.     

The Oslerian Tradition and Changing Medical Education: A Reappraisal

Although only 21 of Sir William Osler''s 45 years in academic medicine were spent in US medical schools (1884 to 1905), he played a major role in shaping modern medical education in this country. The integration of scholarship with patient care, together with the science and art of medicine, was central to Osler''s teaching and writing throughout his career. A classic generalist and a charismatic clinical teacher, he taught by example and was as concerned with the ideals of medicine as with its science and knowledge.Many changes have reshaped the content, process and concerns of American medical education since Osler''s time. Subspecialization and balkanization of medical education and practice have become dominant. Many of the important issues in medicine today do not fit neatly into the domain of any of the established specialties or medical organizations. There is now an urgent need to promote generalist attitudes in medicine, and the Oslerian tradition has much to offer in approaching today''s problems in medical education and practice.     

HOMEOPATHY AND EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS – A RESPONSE TO SMITH'S UTILITARIAN ARGUMENT

Kevin Smith's utilitarian argument against homeopathy 1 is flawed because he did not review and refute the relevant basic science literature on ultra‐high dilutions. He also failed to appreciate that allopathic medicine is based on a deductive‐nomothetic method and that homeopathic medicine is based on an inductive‐idiographic method, and thus that the implications for clinical research are very different. His misunderstanding of provings and of the holism of homeopathic medicine also demonstrated his failure to understand the history, philosophy and method of homeopathy. Finally, I questioned the value of introducing ethical judgment into an ongoing scientific debate.     

W. Montague Cobb (1904–1990): Physical Anthropologist, Anatomist, and Activist

William Montague Cobb's life and work reflect a profound integration of art, literature, social activism, and science. This article presents some of the highlights of his academic development and professional contributions. We have considered his early academic development within the contexts of the formative years of American physical anthropology, Howard University Medical School, and the social issues in American society that influenced Cobb. His approaches to teaching, anatomical and anthropological research, and medicine are unique, and yet are closely reasoned and creative reflections of the major currents of academe and the broader society with which he dealt. Imbued with a sense of social responsibility, Cobb's applied anthropology involved the accumulation of extensive data on the one hand, and the formation of organizations for social activism on the other. It was directed toward solving problems of health care and racism. His work thereby served to balance the widespread distortion and neglect of medical and racial problems facing A fro-America between 1930 and the present day. He was also a principal builder of black medical and scientific institutions, and he preserved the record of his coworkers' contributions through his many biographies. This work represents no more than a sketch of his rich and prolific career (during which he produced more than 1,100 publications); the emphasis of this biographical study has been to ascertain the circumstances and attitudes that helped mold the first Afro-American Ph.D. in physical anthropology.     

Bringing Conservation Medicine into the Veterinary Curriculum: The Tufts Example

The Center for Conservation Medicine at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine (TuftsCCM), has helped to define the concept of conservation medicine as a new science that examines the interaction between human, animal, and environmental health. One the Center’s main objectives in pursuing this new science has been to incorporate conservation medicine and ecosystem health principles into the veterinary curriculum. Environmental influences on disease dynamics in animals has always had a place in veterinary medicine, but often has not been adequately explored. Many opportunities exist within a traditional veterinary curriculum to strengthen this perspective, and to bring depth and new meaning to the understanding of disease and the role of animals in ecosystem health. The Tufts program is designed to reach both the general veterinary student and the student interested in a career in conservation medicine through core teaching, elective opportunities, research opportunities, and extracurricular seminars and workshops. The core curriculum exposes every veterinary student to an ecosystem health perspective of veterinary medicine that helps them realize the impact that this approach can have on their professional lives, regardless of their chosen specialty. Committed conservation medicine students benefit from specialty courses, a wide range of experiential and field research opportunities and active mentoring. Future challenges call for development of more graduate opportunities, continued interdisciplinary collaboration with other educational institutions, and continued curricular integration of this new paradigm of health and disease into veterinary medical education.     

Dean Milton C. Winternitz at Yale

Milton Winternitz led Yale Medical School as its Dean from 1920 to 1935. An innovative, even maverick leader, he not only kept the school from going under, but turned it into a first-class research institution. Dedicated to the new scientific medicine established in Germany, he was equally fervent about "social medicine" and the study of humans in their culture and environment. He established the "Yale System" of teaching, with few lectures and fewer exams, and strengthened the full-time faculty system; he also created the graduate-level Yale School of Nursing and the Psychiatry Department, built numerous new buildings, and much more. It is a loss to 21st-century medicine that his dream of an Institute of Human Relations, envisioned as a refuge where social scientists would collaborate with biological scientists in a holistic study of humankind, lasted for only a few years, before falling victim to the more obvious triumphs of medical science and technology. It is sad, too, that he is remembered largely as a Jew presiding over a medical school that, like most others, restricted the number of Jewish students, rather than for his contributions to American medicine.     

The Role of Microbes in Agriculture: Sergei Vinogradskii’s Discovery and Investigation of Chemosynthesis, 1880–1910

In 1890, Sergei Nikolaevich Vinogradskii (Winogradsky) proposed a novel life process called chemosynthesis. His discovery that some microbes could live solely on inorganic matter emerged during his physiological research in 1880s in Strassburg and Zurich on sulfur, iron, and nitrogen bacteria. In his nitrification research, Vinogradskii first embraced the idea that microbiology could have great bearing on agricultural problems. His critique of agricultural chemists and Kochian-style bacteriologists brought this message to the broader agricultural community, resulting in an heightened interest in biological, rather than chemical methods to investigate soil processes. From 1891 to 1910, he directed the microbiological laboratory at the Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he expanded his chemosynthesis research to a broad investigation of the manifold significance of autotrophic organisms in soil processes. This work and that of his students attracted the serious attention of agricultural chemists and soil scientists in Russia and abroad, changing essentially the way they understood and investigated the role of microbes in the soil. His student, Vasilii Omelianskii, effectively integrated Vinogradskii’s approach into Russian and Soviet, and international agricultural microbiology. Vinogradskii’s activities in the late 19th century reflect the changes occurring more broadly in science. At that time, microbiologists such as Louis Pasteur, Eugenius Warming, and Martianus Beijerinck were contributing new laboratory methods and theoretical perspectives to incipient disciplines closely related to agriculture: ecology, soil science, and soil microbiology.     

A behavioral science/behavioral medicine core curriculum proposal for Japanese undergraduate medical education

Behavioral science and behavioral medicine have not been systematically taught to Japanese undergraduate medical students. A working group under the auspices of Japanese Society of Behavioral Medicine developed an outcome-oriented curriculum of behavioral science/behavioral medicine through three processes: identifying the curriculum contents, holding a joint symposium with related societies, and defining outcomes and proposing a learning module. The behavioral science/behavioral medicine core curriculum consists of 11 units of lectures and four units of practical study. The working group plans to improve the current core curriculum by devising formative assessment methods so that students can learn and acquire attitude as well as the skills and knowledge necessary for student-centered clinical practice.     

Was Linnaeus a Rosicrucian?

Linnaeus's collection of printed books, now in the Linnean Society's possession, is mainly a working library of zoology, botany, mineralogy, materia medica and medicine, but it also contains a number of occult or semi-occult treatises, at least one of which was actually bought by him in his impoverished youth. Historians have been reluctant to take seriously Linnaeus's theory of the cortex and medulla as the means of evolution of most plants by hybridization and the key to all medicine. They have noted with amusement his extremely conceited estimate of his personal relations with God. If he viewed himself as an illuminatus, or magus, both become intelligible; he was discovering active principia and thereby seeing further into the secrets of Nature than anyone else, for which he gave due thanks. He differed from Renaissance neo-Platonists and Hermetic magi in rejecting astral influences on Man, and from the original Rosicrucians also in not taking Christ as the Archimagus. His lack of references to Christ, however, is shared even with wholly orthodox Anglican naturalists and natural theologians, and cannot be taken as evidence for his unorthodoxy. His use of ajjmitas has probably been taken in too modern a sense. It is suggested that some of the correspondences he noted in the Testacea encouraged him to believe that the rudiments of the plan of Creation were already becoming visible.     

ESP理论参照下的临床医学英语教学实践探讨

目的:由于传统的英语教学无法满足全球化对于双语医学教育的新要求,ESP特殊用途英语如何在中国医学教育中得以实践并取得有效成果成了医学教育者的新课题。方法:为了解决这一课题,在上海交通大学医学院进行医学双语教学的试点培训,以学士,硕士和博士三种学历组成人数为3-5人的小型试点班级,目的在跟踪不同阶段的医学生在培训期间的专业素质水平与英语水平的成效,并参照语言学家Pauline Robinson的ESP方法论,归纳总结出适应我国不同阶段学生的教学方法。Pauline Robinson的ESP方法分别为:角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲。结果:培训教师从三组不同学生的实际情况出发,结合上述四种教学方法,经过三个学期的培训分别得出了博士生组的口语能力,硕士生组听力能力以及本科生的写作阅读能力进步比较突出的结果。结论:中国教育体制所导致的被动接受的学习习惯是中国的特殊情况,而角色扮演和模仿,案例学习法,项目教学法和演讲是紧密相扣的四环相连的教学方法,每一种教学方法都是对彼此的补充和丰富,符合我国当代学生的个性特点和医学教育的方向,从而需要更多的医学教育工作者更好地利用四种教学方法以不断提升医学英语教学的教育事业以更好地帮助医学工作者融入国际舞台。     

Commercializing medical technology

As medicine moves into the 21st century, life saving therapies will move from inception into medical products faster if there is a better synergy between science and business. Medicine appears to have 50-year innovative cycles of education and scientific discoveries. In the 1880’s, the chemical industry in Germany was faced with the dilemma of modernization to exploit the new scientific discoveries. The solution was the spawning of novel technical colleges for training in these new chemical industries. The impact of those new employees and their groundbreaking compounds had a profound influence on medicine and medical education in Germany between 1880 and 1930. Germany dominated international science during this period and was a training center for scientists worldwide. This model of synergy between education and business was envied and admired in Europe, Asia and America. British science soon after evolved to dominate the field of science during the prewar and post World War (1930’s–1970’s) because the German scientists fled Hitler’s government. These expatriated scientists had a profound influence on the teaching and training of British scientists, which lead to advances in medicine such as antibiotics. After the Second World War, the US government wisely funded the development of the medical infrastructure that we see today. British and German scientists in medicine moved to America because of this bountiful funding for their research. These expatriated scientists helped drive these medical advances into commercialized products by the 1980’s. America has been the center of medical education and advances of biotechnology but will it continue? International scientists trained in America have started to return to Europe and Asia. These American-trained scientists and their governments are very aware of the commercial potential of biotechnology. Those governments are now more prepared to play an active role this new science. Germany, Ireland, Britain, Singapore, Taiwan and Israel are such examples of this government support for biotechnology in the 21st century. Will the US continue to maintain its domination of biotechnology in this century? Will the US education system adjust to the new dynamic of synergistic relationships between the education system, industry and government? This article will try to address these questions but also will help the reader understand who will emerge by 2015 as the leader in science and education.     

How serendipity shaped a life; an interview with John W. Saunders,Jr. by John F. Fallon

John W. Saunders Jr. is an outstanding contributor to the field of Developmental Biology. His analyses of the apical ectodermal ridge, discovery and study of the zone of polarizing activity, insights into cell death in development, and analytical studies of feather patterns are part of a legacy to developmental biology. The body of his published work remains central to the understanding of limb development and is a major reason for the premiere place that the developmental biology of limbs holds in our research and teaching today. Beyond these things known to nearly everyone, there is John's role as teacher that is equally impressive. His one-on-one style, in small groups or from the podium is engaging, encompassing, and above all else, enthusiastic about the study of the development of living things. His love of developmental biology comes through to students of all ages and is inspirational. And, of course, inimitable charm accompanies the substance of any interaction with John. He still teaches in the Embryology Course at MBL Woods Hole. Recent students say that hearing his lectures and his involvement in the laboratory are highlights of the course. His continued knowledge of science and delight in new advances is a model for students to follow and they recognize it. John Saunders is a scientist and educator par excellence. His contributions have stood the test of time. His personal interactions with colleagues and students have enriched their lives in innumerable ways, large and small. His is a lifetime of outstanding achievements. In this interview, he reflects on his six--going on seven--decades in science and his personal enjoyment of recent advances in Developmental Biology.     

临床医学八年一贯制"代谢与能量"模块式教学的实践与思考

为了解决传统医学基础知识教育中存在的学习内容衔接矛盾、重叠、理论脱离实际、基础脱离临床、教师教法单一、学生学法被动等弊端,上海交通大学医学院于2009年对八年制临床医学专业进行了教学改革,以模块式教学代替传统教学模式。经过两年的教学实践,在取得可喜的优异成果的同时,探讨模块式教学目前存在的弊端,为深化模块式教学改革,进一步提高教学质量提供借鉴和参考。     

Challenges and opportunities for biogeography—What can we still learn from von Humboldt?

Alexander von Humboldt was arguably the most influential scientist of his day. Although his fame has since lessened relative to some of his contemporaries, we argue that his influence remains strong—mainly because his approach to science inspired others and was instrumental in furthering other scientific disciplines (such as evolution, through Darwin, and conservation science, through Muir)—and that he changed the way that large areas of science are done and communicated. Indeed, he has been called the father of a range of fields, including environmental science, earth system science, plant geography, ecology and conservation. His approach was characterized by making connections between non‐living and living nature (including humans), based on interdisciplinary thinking and informed by large amounts of data from systematic, accurate measurements in a geographical framework. Although his approach largely lacked an evolutionary perspective, he was fundamental to creating the circumstances for Darwin and Wallace to advance evolutionary science. He devoted considerable effort illustrating, communicating and popularizing science, centred on the excitement of pure science. In biogeography, his influence remains strong, including in relating climate to species distributions (e.g. biomes and latitudinal and elevational gradients) and in the use of remote sensing and species distribution modelling in macroecology. However, some key aspects of his approach have faded, particularly as science fragmented into specific disciplines and became more reductionist. We argue that asking questions in a more Humboldtian way is important for addressing current global challenges. This is well‐exemplified by researching links between geodiversity and biodiversity. Progress on this can be made by (a) systematic data collection to improve our knowledge of biodiversity and geodiversity around the world; (b) improving our understanding of the linkages between biodiversity and geodiversity; and (c) developing our understanding of the interactions of geological, biological, ecological, environmental and evolutionary processes in biogeography.     

Joseph Dalton Hooker's Ideals for a Professional Man of Science

During the 1840s and the 1850s botanist Joseph Hooker developeddistinct notions about the proper characteristics of aprofessional man of science. While he never articulated theseideas publicly as a coherent agenda, he did share his opinionsopenly in letters to family and colleagues; this privatecommunication gives essential insight into his and his X-Clubcolleagues' public activities. The core aspiration of Hooker'sprofessionalization was to consolidate men of science into adutiful and centralized community dedicated to nationalwell-being. The nation in turn owed the scientific community forits ministration. When the government bestowed funds and statuson men of science it was rewarding science – not purchasing it. His proposed reforms were piecemeal, immediate, and above allpractical. He harbored no taste for vast millenariantransformation, and rested his conception of scientificprofessionalism upon a respectable High Victorian foundation ofpatronage and pillars of duty, reciprocity, intimacy, andinequality. The process of professionalization he envisioned wasas much shrewd compromise between existing interests as avindication of principle. His power and prestige from themid-1850s onward gave him considerable ability to carry out hisreform program, although his general success did occasion someundesired consequences for the status of natural-historypursuits. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Neuroscience was not even a word: an interview with Floyd Bloom

Floyd Bloom says that he grew up, surrounded by doctors and pills, in a drug store in Dallas, where his father and uncles were pharmacists. He is a natural storyteller, readily recalling the people and events that have shaped his career. His narrative skills were apparent as early as high school, where he was encouraged, partially on the basis of aptitude tests, to pursue a career in journalism or public relations, and to stay away from hard subjects like math and science. In college, he majored in German literature, although he pursued premedical studies in accordance with his father's wishes. During his medical school and residency experiences in St. Louis, he recounts, he always attempted to carry in his mind an organized way of explaining his academic and clinical activities to the professors and attending physicians that might quiz him. His subsequent research into the central nervous system similarly benefited from his ability not only to anticipate and formulate questions, the answers to which often required the development of new methods, technologies, and alliances, but also to place his findings in novel contexts where they could be conceptually appreciated and utilized. The prospect of telling good scientific stories was one of the factors that later drew Bloom to the position of Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine (1995-2000). While there, he was instrumental in widening the contexts in which the magazine presents science, and in shaping the ways that scientific information is electronically disseminated across the globe. Currently on sabbatical from Scripps, Floyd Bloom continues to explore, as CEO of a startup company in La Jolla, the entrepreneurial contexts in which his own research can be applied.     

How We Forgot Who Discovered DNA: Why It Matters How You Communicate Your Results

One hundred and fifty years ago, a hopeful young researcher reported a recent discovery he had made. Working in the bowels of a medieval castle in the German city of Tübingen, he had isolated a then entirely new type of molecule. This was the birth of a field that would fundamentally change the course of biology, medicine, and beyond. His discovery: DNA. His name: Friedrich Miescher. In this article, the authors try to find answers to the question why—despite the fact that virtually everyone nowadays knows DNA—hardly anyone remembers the man who discovered it. In the history of science, the discovery of DNA was a seminal moment. Why then did it not enter into public memory? Ground‐breaking discoveries can occur in a historical context that is not ready to appreciate them. But that's not all that decides who is remembered and who is forgotten. Scientific pioneers sometimes fail to publicize their findings in a way that ensures that they receive the attention they merit. As discussed here, their personalities and habits may cause discoveries to be “overwritten” by more recent researchers, resulting in distorted cultural memories no longer reflecting the initial event.