|
Items in cart [1] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 252
THE LIFE SCIENCES
their acquisition and maintenance, which have inhibited, if not prohibited,
their utilization for a variety of studies in which they could be extraordi-
narily useful.
In contrast, millions of species currently go unstudied, and many others
are under scrutiny by only one or two investigators. When, from time to
time, such an investigator directs attention to some unique or remarkable
attribute of a seemingly esoteric species, it can rapidly claim the attention
of many other scientists, an incident that has recurred many times in the
past. Thus, the bacterium Escherichia cold has become the most thoroughly
studied of all cells, while both neurophysiologists and molecular biologists
have recently seized upon the tiny marine organism Aplysia because of its
easily studied giant nerve cells. In any case, the diversity of species under
study demands an equal diversity of laboratory accommodations for their
culture or maintenance. This may engender substantial expenditures and
contribute much to the cost of scientific investigation, particularly in ex-
treme instances. Elaborate facilities are required for the conduct of research
employing cells in culture. Inadequate accommodations, overcrowding, or
infestation can render a colony of dogs or rodents useless to the investi-
gator and give rise to misleading data. Humane considerations demand that
larger domestic mammals-cats, dogs, and primates-be housed in decent
quarters, be wellnourished, and be subjected to the minimum of trauma
commensurate with the purposes of study. This in turn creates further
serious financial requirements, which should be borne by some institutional
mechanism and not met by taking funds from personal research grants made
to individual investigators. Certain plants and animals require carefully
controlled environments; a continuing supply of virus may require a colony
of host animals, a large-scale fermenter, or a large tissue-culture facility.
Most importantly, all these demand substantial expenditures merely to
assure a supply of the biological entity to be studied before the research
proper can be undertaken.
WHAT FACILITIES AND Toors Do LIFE SCIENTISTS USE?
The classic image of the biologist is an aging gentleman, wrapped in a
dirty laboratory apron, in a musty laboratory surrounded by museum jars,
an ancient, battered microscope, staining jars for microscope slides, and
perhaps an unwashed dissecting table. If that image ever corresponded
to reality, it no longer does. As the questions we ask of nature become more
sophisticated and the information we seek becomes more remote from
that which we can acquire with our naked senses, the requirements for the
OCR for page 253
THE WORLD OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
conduct of research in the life sciences become more complex. Today, in
order to achieve his ends, the investigator may have to travel thousands of
miles from his home base, armed with telemetering equipment, tape re-
corders, or remote sensors. He may require a floating laboratory, a deep-
submersible vessel, a reconnaissance plane, or even a satellite equipped
with infrared sensors. He may utilize the gadgetry of modern biochemistry-
ultracentrifuges, equipment for optically following the course of kinetic
processes on the scale of milliseconds or of molecular-relaxation times
(10-9 see), for the quantitation of visible or ultraviolet light or radio-
activity. His laboratory may be what amounts to a small electronics plant
equipped with the complex electronic apparatus needed for the study of
neurophysiology, and his experiment may be guided by an on-line computer.
Increasingly, the tools of any biological subdiscipline tend to become the
tools in many other areas of biology. As we have noted repeatedly, this is
particularly true of the tools of the biochemist, which have become the
tools of all biologists.
Specialized Biological Research Facilities
Table 16 summarizes the replies from respondents whose completed ques-
tionnaires usefully indicated their utilization of specialized research facili-
ties. The spectrum of such activity is broad indeed. For example, we were
surprised at the high rate of utilization of controlled field areas, which
seemingly are employed by participants in each of the research areas.
Computer centers are available to and utilized by a strikingly high fraction
of all life scientists, and general animal care facilities appear to be utilized
by almost half the scientists covered by our survey. Indeed, it is difficult
to correlate specific types of facilities with specific research areas. Notable
exceptions include the 87 percent of all systematists and 44 percent of ecol-
ogists who utilized taxonomic research collections, the 51 percent of cell
biologists who employed cell- or tissue-culture facilities, and the 76 percent
of all pharmacologists who made use of general animal care facilities. The
existence of the specialized facilities listed here was known to the Survey
Committee, but the extent of use was not anticipated.
Rarely can the cost of acquisition and maintenance of such facilities be
justified by the research program of a single investigator; hence, no small
or medium-sized institution can hope to have a complete selection of these
opportunities for conduct of research. This has the effect of either limiting
the capabilities of the staff of such institutions or so affecting their recruit-
ment patterns that, at each institution, there are clusters of investigators
whose research requires easy access to the same major research facility.
OCR for page 254
\ ~
Asia
-:'r4d
-id
~ ~ of
if ;~
c) ~4
~\ - ~
v)
o
o
'_ N
~ALL,
254
o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ X
oo
_4
~ ~ ~ o ~ '_ o oo
U) ~ X ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
_.
X V)
_.
rot
o o
~_
-
o ~ ~ o ~ ~
. ~ _,
oo ~ ~ ~ ~ t_ ',
· ~ ~ t_
oo ~ or o
o ~ ~ .
~ ~ ~ ox
o
o ~
~ ~ _
o - , ~ _
~_ ~ ~
_4
oo
or or
_ ~ ~ oo
~Cat
to
-
~- 1 ~ 1 1
I,
oo
.
_. ~
oo ~ cr.
U) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ U)
o ~ ~ ~ ~ o ~ o
0 r~ ~ \0 ~ ~ ~
E ~.o ~
Z V C ° -
O A -O C A D
y y E :, ~ ~q o A E
Z ~ ~ ¢ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' ,_ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ °-~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
O _ .~' 8 ~ t4 ° ° ~ ~ o
- o =~0~
OCR for page 255
on ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ d
1 0 lo) t- O ~ ~ In ~ ~ ~CJ~
~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ O ~x
_ ~4
OO ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~O
X lie 1~ _ ~ ~ ~ X t- ~ t- O
lo,
cr. 0 ~ x
t- ~ oc
_.
~ r
_4 ~TIC
I 0 ox X ~ ~ ~ X 0 ~ ox ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~cat ~ ~ ~en
_4 ~ ~ Off ~ _1
_4
to ~ ~ ~
U.
0 X ~ ~ ·- ~) ~} C-] t~] t- (
_< r.
·C)
V'
V)
~4X ~- ~ ~ ~ ~ so ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~oo - i
it:
0 ~ X ~ oo - } _4 ~ ') lo,
To ~ ~
To
s
u,
o
-
,,, E
.co E
·_ (_,
N.O
Ct ~
._ 40
U: ~
~o
E
o _
o._
Ct
oZ
s
~- >~ ~_.O
D . ~ U ~ ~ ~ ] · - - ~ ~ 2 ~ ° ~ . ~
~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~o
1 o ~ ~ ~ ~ t~ ~ ~ ~1
1 ~1 ~1 ~1
oo
o
a'
_
C~
x x ~ cr~ ct
r~ ~ ~ oo ~ ~ oo
o
X
o~ ~ ~ U)
oo
o ~ ~o
_
oo ~ ~ =` ~
~ cr, ~n
c~ ax
0 ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ oo
~-
~o ~
oo
255
OCR for page 256
256 THE LIFE SCIENCES
For smaller institutions, this fact, in turn, may well prevent the assembly
of a staff broadly representative of biology.
Major Instruments
Table 17 displays the utilization of major instruments by life scientists
during 1966-1967. Like Table 16, this table is limited to those respondents
whose replies to the questionnaire were found adequate to the purpose.
And, as in Table 16, what is impressive is the extent of use of the wide
variety of instruments listed and the relative amount of use without regard
to specific research areas, again with a few notable exceptions. This table
well illustrates how the tools developed for biochemical studies have be-
come the tools of biology in general; this is evident in the use pattern
of centrifuges, gas chromatography, amino acid analyzers, scintillation
counters, infrared and ultraviolet spectrophotometers, as well as electro-
phoresis apparatus. These common tools of the biochemical laboratory
are now the common tools of the biological laboratory. Specialized uses of
instruments will, however, be found in the table. For example, large-scale
fermenters are used largely by biochemists; multichannel recorders are
required by physiologists and pharmacologists; small special computers by
physiologists. Biochemists are pioneering in the use of ultrasonic probes,
and electron paramagnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance spec-
trometers, as well as instruments for measuring circular dichroism. The
physiologists are the major users of infrared carbon dioxide analyzers, and
the clinicians interested in disease mechanisms utilize complex electronic
systems for monitoring human physiology, while systematists use telemetry
and sensitive tape recorders.
The utilization of the electron microscope is particularly revealing. This
instrument, slowly introduced into biological laboratories in the years fol-
lowing World War II, is now used by investigators in every research area.
In absolute numbers, those interested in molecular biology and biochemistry,
cellular biology, disease mechanisms, and physiology are the principal users.
But 48 percent of all those studying morphology and 44 percent of those
studying cellular biology made use of this instrument. The great expense
of acquisition and maintenance of these instruments prevents the figures
for utilization from approximating 100 percent of those in both of the
latter research areas.
One should not leave the subject of instruments without a tribute to the
instrument-manufacturing industry. This highly competitive industry has
frequently been a jump ahead of most life scientists. In general, instrument
manufacturers have recognized needs and potential uses before the scien
Representative terms from entire chapter:
care facilities
