For those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a relaxing holiday and an enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner (raise your hand if someone tried to convince you that the tryptophan in turkey makes you tired…) My wife and I had a small gathering at our apartment, where we consumed the Roast Ox potato chips and I learned that Lay’s makes turkey-flavored potato chips (“”https://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?snack_code=1404">They really do taste like turkey with gravy … It’s like combining the best parts of Thanksgiving dinner, all in one bag.")

Anyways, when I was in London a few weeks ago, I had my yearly appraisal – these appraisals always take place in November or December, so we often talk about our plans for the following year… We already have a few things planned for 2007 (and 2008), but I’d be curious to hear what you’d like to see more of (or less of) next year. I’m not just referring to primary research; we try to make sure chemistry appears throughout the journal – for example, in editorials, News Features, News & Views articles (on papers published in Nature and in other journals), Insights and review articles, essays, etc.

We often get feedback from the community when we’re at meetings (positive and negative feedback – both can be quite helpful), but since there aren’t many chemistry meetings coming up in the next few months, I thought this might be an easy way to find out what you think (anonymously if you’d prefer…)

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Joshua

Joshua Finkelstein (Senior Editor, Nature)

sym•po•si•um n.

pl. sym•po•si•ums or sym•po•si•a

1. A meeting or conference for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the participants form an audience and make presentations.

2. A collection of writings on a particular topic, as in a magazine.

3. A convivial meeting for drinking, music, and intellectual discussion among the ancient Greeks.

For those of you who might have missed it, we (Nature Chemical Biology) hosted our first annual symposium in Boston on November 10-11. The conference focused on the chemical biology of the cell, and included scientific sessions on the nucleus, metals and metabolites, the cytoplasm, and the membrane. While there was no music or ancient Greeks to be found, this convivial meeting included a substantial amount of intellectual discussion, both during and after the actual sessions. In a conference packed with great presentations, Antoine van Oijen made his mark on the conference as the only molecular physicist in the room, although his talk focused instead on single molecule fluorescence imaging of DNA replication. Akihiro Kusumi’s talk on membrane domains included several amazing images that required 3-D glasses to see properly (pictures of which you’ll no doubt see in advertising for our next meeting). Jeremy Nicholson delighted with an analysis of biomarkers in urine (his own, at times), pointing out the overwhelming significance of non-genetic factors in determining a patient’s metabolic profile. Two inveterate chemical biologists, Carolyn Bertozzi and Jim Rothman, spoke in a final session designed to look to the future, identifying progress made and challenges ahead in the field.

The meeting definitely demonstrated the power of applying chemistry and chemical tools to learn new information about biological systems. Additionally, the disparity of the speakers and attendees across scientific disciplines made for interesting and thought-provoking questions and discussions. The Museum of Science was a great venue, with beautiful views of the city skyline available for those rare moments of quiet reflection.

While approximately half of the delegates were from Massachusetts (with a few more from nearby Connecticut or New York), there was also interest from around the United States and around the world. We thank all of the attendees, whether traveling 10 minutes on the subway or 10 hours in a plane, for their participation and enthusiasm.

We are already planning our next symposium, and look forward to another exciting event!

Catherine Goodman (assistant editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

For those of you who are looking to get started on your holiday shopping, I have the perfect suggestion. It’s… the December issue of Nature Chemical Biology! It may not have the charm of that 100th tie or the universal appeal of old fruitcake, but it is jam-packed full of articles, reviews, perspectives, commentaries, and other goodies. This issue is actually a focus on drug discovery, so if the issue itself isn’t enough, perhaps it will give you some ideas for other presents to buy for your loved ones. After all, who doesn’t want some synthetic antibodies, treatments for parasitic diseases, or thoughts on new paradigms of drug discovery, whether they focus on academic-industrial partnerships or new ideas in integrating interdisciplinary techniques in general or in relation to cancer therapeutics? I could go on, but it’s probably just easier if you check it out!

This issue is our first official focus, so we’d love to know what you think about it or other topics that we should cover. Happy holidays, everyone!

Catherine Goodman (assistant editor, Nature Chemical Biology)

As Stuart mentioned in his last post, I’ve been in the London office all week. I always have a great time when I’m in London (where else can you see Patrick Swayze in ‘Guys and Dolls’?) and wish I could travel here more frequently…

There’s a large selection of flavored potato chips/crisps here – my sister is a vegetarian, so I always try to bring her back the meatiest or fishiest flavor I can find (I’ve given her ‘Roast Minted Lamb’ and ‘Prawn Cocktail’ in the past). But this time I think I’ve outdone myself: I noticed a bag of ‘Roast Ox’ flavored crisps in the building’s vending machine…

A few minutes and 50 pence later, I went over to Stuart’s desk to show him my prize – but a closer look at the packaging revealed that the crisps were vegetarian-friendly. How could this happen? What vegetable products could be used to re-create the complex flavors (or flavours) that one would normally associate with a roasted ox?

Stuart and I scanned the ingredients for more information:

So which chemical (or combination of chemicals) tastes/taste like ox? Are there any food and flavor chemists out there who can tell us more?

Joshua

Joshua Finkelstein (Senior Editor, Nature)