Upcoming special journal issues

Abstract

I just returned from the American Chemical Society's National meeting in Salt Lake City. Aside from the interesting weather, 75°F one day and snow the next, several other items deserve comment. The highlight of the meeting was, of course, the science. A week dedicated to Nanoscience with keynote lectures from leaders in the field was quite exciting. The materials science symposia were of personal interest. I made special note of how many of the presentations included the use of peptides in either the design and fabrication of materials or in critical experiments that investigated a particular attribute of the material. My suspicions were confirmed. Almost all of the materials talks I attended presented some facet of peptide science. In all fairness, I did attend mostly biomaterials-based sessions. Even still, the copious use of peptides in the materials community was great to see. Biopolymers-Peptide Science will be unveiling a very special issue in the near future that is dedicated to the use of peptides in materials science. We are currently assembling reviews from international leaders in the materials community that will highlight the critical importance of peptides to the design of novel, smart materials. This special issue will serve as an excellent avenue for these authors to share their work with the readers of our Journal and the members of our society. It is my hope that special thematic issues such as this will not only expand the scientific scope of the Journal but the scope of science practiced by our readers. Another excellent session that I attended was the Ralph Hirschmann Award in Peptide Chemistry symposium, which was chaired by William Lubell. This year's winner is Morten Meldal from Carlsberg laboratory. Morten gave a great talk highlighting his past contributions to peptide science and presented some of his current chemistry developing on-resin synthetic methodology. Biopolymers-Peptide Science is assembling mini-reviews and original research articles from the speakers in this session, including Morten. These contributions, as well as submissions from some of Morten's former associates will be collected in a special issue dedicated to Morten's achievements in peptide chemistry. I hope you will enjoy these upcoming issues of our Journal. See you all at the American Peptide Society meeting! Sincerely, Joel Schneider Editor-in-Chief.