Abstract

Back in the past century, the Biosciences comprised a small number of major disciplines (Biochemistry, Genetics, Physiology, Embryology/Developmental Biology) that were intermingled with more clinical disciplines (Immunology, Microbiology, Pharmacology). The boundaries between these disciplines were quite high, and maintained by the organization of coursework for undergraduates and PhD students, and even by the names of departments and journals. Cell Biology was a subdiscipline often linked with Anatomy, commensurate with the observational and descriptive nature of the field.More recently, the names of departments, journals and teaching disciplines have changed to reflect the crossover of different scientific approaches in the Biosciences. Significantly, Cell Biology has become the center of many such studies seeking to understand how cells work either individually or together as a group – we term this collaborative approach as Cell Biology + ‘X’, or CellBio-X. In many ways, Cell Biology has become synonymous with ‘mechanism’ in which the application of tools adopted from other disciplines has enabled a broad range of scientists with different backgrounds to integrate protein localization, interactions, regulation and functions with single and multicell behaviors.Bringing the X's – including mathematics, biochemistry, structural biology, chemistry, engineering and physics – into the fray has allowed cell biologists to develop quantitative models of cell behaviors; to analyze protein interactions and structures in the context of cell organization and functions; to use chemical probes to examine changes in protein conformation, activation and inhibition; and to analyze the effects of forces applied to, and generated by, cells. The incorporation of these CellBio-X approaches has also enabled developmental and evolutionary biologists to consider how individual cell organization and behavior are integrated into whole tissue morphogenesis. Because Cell Biology impinges on so many research areas, it has also been used to develop new ways of thinking about teaching and policy-making.This special issue provides exemplars of CellBio-X, and the ways that Cell Biology has used multidisciplinary approaches to diverse areas of science.The Opinions offer several personal perspectives of how Cell Biology has become central to areas that affect the general public. Ken Miller discusses the importance of Cell Biology as a way to make science approachable for the non-scientist, and as a tool to explain concepts of evolution and developmental biology to the layperson. Larry Goldstein discusses how cell biologists play an important role in science policy, and offers advice to researchers looking to become involved in this crucial scientific arena. Finally, Janet Iwasa describes the latest approaches to animate figures and models for Cell Biology, and how these advances can aid in teaching and scientific research.The Reviews highlight several areas in which Cell Biology has incorporated technical and conceptual approaches from other disciplines and, thereby, given new insights into complex biological problems. Chris Chen and colleagues discuss the application of tools from bioengineering, including microfabrication of patterned substrates (to examine cell signaling, shape, adhesion and migration), some of which can incorporate force sensors, and methods to apply external forces to cells. Paul Sharpe and colleagues describe how Cell Biology advances in dental stem cell research are being translated to Medicine to aid in tooth repair and in the generation of whole teeth. Rob Philips and colleagues then discuss the importance of mathematics (or numeracy, as he defines it) in the quantitative analysis of an important biological problem, gene transcription, and how a combination of experimental and theoretical (modeling) approaches can lead to some surprising conclusions. Finally, Nicole King and colleagues discuss how Cell Biology studies of adhesion and the development of biological concepts in more complex paradigms are important for understanding early animal evolution.This special issue touches only the tip of the Cell Biology iceberg. The interested reader is directed to any issue of Trends in Cell Biology for further examples of the multidisciplinary approaches and mechanistic insights provided by Cell Biology in many areas of the Biosciences.We thank the authors and referees for working to very tight deadlines to compile the issue. It has been a great pleasure for us to develop the ideas for this special issue and we hope you also enjoy stepping outside your own particular discipline to read some of these articles. We believe your colleagues from other departments will enjoy reading them too, and we welcome your feedback.

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