Frank Gannon writes an Editorial in the November EMBO Reports (9, 1055; 2008) about the importance of molecular biology to energy research. From the Editorial:

“Despite appearances, this is not an editorial about politics. It is about how biologists—more specifically, molecular biologists—can contribute to solving these problems. The obvious first step is to make energy production and conservation a prime focus of research, placing it on the same pedestal as curing cancer or developing therapies for HIV/AIDS and malaria. In fact, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels while preserving the environment might arguably be more important than other essential causes; an increasingly uninhabitable planet will affect both current and future generations, not only those who suffer from disease today.

We must therefore revisit our attitude towards certain avenues of research and accept that some of the solutions can only come from molecular biology. For example, after a brief period of enthusiasm, biofuels are now in the ‘bad books’ for various reasons, but mostly because their increasing production and the associated tax benefits are having an impact on the cost and availability of staple foods. Of course, sustainable food production is another important challenge that requires more research; yet, biologists could engineer energy crops to grow in poor soils and in harsh environments where it does not make sense to grow food crops. I suspect that such crops would eventually be welcomed even if they were genetically engineered. Similarly, we could also invest more into studying natural processes such as photosynthesis; bio-mimicry might help us to engineer more efficient ways for converting sunlight into energy.”

Molecular biologists are going to face the problems of an ill-prepared scientific community at a time when the public increasingly expects science to solve our current energy and environmental problems, concludes Gannon. “This is complicated further by public skepticism about the science such solutions will require. Clearly, molecular biologists have to focus their attention on this huge challenge; it is no longer a question of ‘if we should’ but one of ‘how we must’.”