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John Mattick is Professor of Molecular Biology and ARC Federation Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland. Professor Mattick’s research interest is in the role of noncoding RNA in the evolution and development of complex organisms. He has published over 150 scientific papers, including “The hidden genetic program of complex organisms” (Scientific American 291(4):60-67, 2004), “RNA regulation: a new genetics?” (Nature Reviews Genetics 5:316-323 2004), and “Non-coding RNA” (Human Molecular Genetics 15: R17-R29, 2006).
Professor Mattick has developed a new theory of the structure of genetic information in higher organisms, which may explain the purpose of so-called junk DNA in the human genome as a hidden information system that directs human development.
The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) is one of Australia’s leading research institutions and a major center for molecular bioscience research. IMB links leading-edge genomic discovery and bioinformatic facilities with state-of-the-art research to better understand human and animal biology, and to develop new pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, nanotechnologies, and disease therapies.
In our wide-ranging September 2006 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY interview, Professor Mattick discussed the following:
- What mysteries have arisen from the sequencing of the human genome and those of other organisms?
- There are enormous numbers of noncoding RNAs expressed from the human genome. These represent a previously hidden layer of genetic output and likely control the trajectories of our development from the starting point of a single fertilized cell.
- What is the significance of these discoveries and ideas in relation to the diversity of species and human individuality?
- How and why will RNA-based therapies revolutionize medicine and the pharmaceutical industry?
- How do these ideas relate to our understanding of the evolution and function of the brain, and in particular its capacity to learn?
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Terrence J. Collins, Ph.D., is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry and Director of the Institute for Green Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Collins is distinguished by his seminal scientific contributions to green chemistry and his dedication to green chemistry education. He is recognized world-wide as an energetic public advocate for greater use of green chemistry to help achieve a sustainable civilization. In 1997 his work won the award of the Society of Pure and Applied Coordination Chemistry (Japan) and in 1999 the U.S. Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the Environmental Protection Agency.
After completing postdoctoral work at Stanford University, Dr. Collins taught at the California Institute of Technology before coming to Carnegie Mellon in 1987. At Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Collins is the Director of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry, which was established in 2000. Previously, he was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar.
One of the leading educators in the field of green chemistry, Dr. Collins published the first definition of green chemistry in 1997 for the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Chemistry, Volume 2. He was invited to contribute extensive on-line materials on sustainability science to the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute, and served as a consultant for “Reactions in Chemistry,” a professional development series for high school teachers developed by Annenberg Media.
Dr. Collins represented the U.S. at the Workshop on the Funding of Sustainable Chemistry, which took place in Tokyo in 2000 as part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. An author or co-author of more than 100 publications in the scientific literature, Dr. Collins has presented more than 400 public lectures worldwide. His honors include the Environmental Protection Agency’s 1999 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.
In our in-depth June 2007 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY interview, Dr. Collins discusses
- What is green chemistry in overview?
- What a sustainable technology base will look like
- Basic goals of research in green chemistry
- How the chemical enterprise will have to adapt for society to be able to build a sustainable technology base
- The key roles for great universities in redirecting our civilization toward a sustainable trajectory
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Douglas Preston is the New York Times best-selling author of the newly released IMPACT, recently published by Forge Books. He is the co-author, with Lincoln Child, of the famed Pendergast series of novels, including such bestselling titles as The Book of the Dead and The Wheel of Darkness, as well as The Relic, which was made into a number one box office hit film.
Doug’s solo novels include Jennie, made into a movie by Disney, and the New York Times bestsellers Tyrannosaur Canyon and Blasphemy.
Doug discusses how he explores controversial scientific theories and current events in all of his thrillers. He talks about his trip to Cambodia with National Geographic, where certain discoveries ultimately provided the background to IMPACT.
