Trends in Science and Research

Michael M. CrowExecutive Vice Provost

Columbia University

August 2000

Scientific questions are growing more complex and interconnected.

We know that the greatest excitement in research often occurs at the borders of disciplines, where

they interface with each other.

Trends

Information Technology

Nanotechnology

Molecular Computing

Biocomplexity

Genomics

Intellectual Property

Social Outcomes

Impacts of Science and Technology

• Economic– New economy is knowledge-driven– Technological advances have driven recent

economic growth and productivity gains

• Social– New social structures and institutions

• Political– New Federal initiatives

Increasing Attention to S & T

• International– The world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland this year gave

unusually high attention to scientific and technological issues– PRC President Jiang Zemin has stated that “science and technology

should be the driving force for China’s rejuvenation and sustainable development”

• States– California plans three interdisciplinary research institutes for science

and innovation

• Foundations– 28% of MacArthur fellows this year were scientists (vs. 13% in

previous years)

Information Technology

No field of research will be left untouched by the current explosion of information--and of information technologies. Science used to be composed of two endeavors--theory and experiment. Now it has a third component: computer simulation, which links the other two.

- Rita Colwell

Federal Initiative: Information Technology

• Interdisciplinary teams to exploit advances in computing– Involves computer science, mathematics, physics, psychology, social

sciences, education

• Focus on:– Developing architecture to scale up information infrastructure

– Incorporating different representations of information (visual, audio, text)

– Access and workforce issues and innovative educational technologies

– Research on social, economic and cultural factors affected by and affecting IT usage

New Economy Workforce

• Information technology and services are a large and growing part of the overall economy, but workforce skills lag

• House bills introduced to improve math and science education in U.S. elementary and secondary schools

• France is to create a grande ecole dedicated to the Internet

Nanotechnology

Atoms<1 nm

DNA~2.5 nm

Cellsthousands of nm

We are at the point of connecting machines to individual cells

Federal Initiative: Nanotechnology

• Interdisciplinary ability to systematically control and manipulate matter at very small scales– Involves biology, math, physics, chemistry,

materials, engineering, information technology

• Focus on: – Biosystems, structures of quantum control, device

and system architecture, environmental processes, modeling and simulation

Molecular Computing as an Emerging Field

• Interdisciplinary field of quantum information science addresses atomic system (vs. classical system) efficiency and ability to handle complexity – Involves physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer

science and engineering

• Quantum information can be exploited to perform tasks that would be nearly impossible in a classical world

Observing quantum interference

Molecular Computing

• Building electronic circuits from the bottom up, beginning at the molecular level

• Molecular computers will be the size of a tear drop with the power of today's fastest supercomputers

Single monolayer of organically functionalized silver quantum dots Journal of Physical Chemistry,May 6, 1999

Biocomplexity

Planet Biome

Ecosystem Community HabitatPopulation

Organism Organ

Tissue Cell Organelle MolecularAtomic

REDUCTIONIS

M

INTEG

RATION

Federal Initiative: Biocomplexity

• Dynamic interdisciplinary interactions of the Earth’s environmental systems– Involves biological, physical and social systems

• One promising area is geomicrobiology, the examination of the Earth’s crust as a microbial habitat– Applications: recover secondary oil supplies,

bioremediation of contaminated aquifers

Biocomplexity Biocomplexity InitiativeInitiative

Human Genome Sequence

• Next race: annotation– Pinpoint genes– Translate genes into proteins– Assign functions to proteins

• Genomic tool example: DNA chip– Array of genetic building blocks acts as

“bait” to find matching DNA sequences from human samples

Entire yeast genome on a chip

Draft completed June 2000

Genomic Collaborations

• An international consortium of 62 scientists from 13 labs determined the identities of 33.5 million bases of the long arm and another 280,000 bases of the short arm of chromosome 21

• The public consortium to map the human genome is an international one, made up of academic centers supported largely by NIH and the Wellcome Trust

• Consortium to map human genetic markers (SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms) is made up of drug companies, IBM, and academic centers

• Celera and Geron have joined forces over stem cell gene analysis

NIH Initiative: Genetic Medicine

• Isolation and identification of genes will help develop new strategies for treating disease

• Simulations of molecular processes in cells and predictions of drug effects in humans will advance pharmaceutical research and speed up clinical trials

• Computational prognostics and diagnostics that combine clinical data with genotyping and molecular profiling will cause fundamental changes in the practice of health care

Building Science Institutions• Italy: Plans for the creation of a public agency similar to NIH

– The current lack of such an agency means biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on funding from charities and industry

• Canada: New biomedical research institution modeled after NIH

– Will be a national network of about a dozen virtual research institutes, grouped by scientific theme

• Proposed InterAcademy Council would be a new mechanism to provide impartial scientific advice to international organizations

– Would be an international version of the U.S. National Research Council

Intellectual Property

• Gene patents– Ethics– Stifling of research and innovation– Overlapping rights and claims

• Broad business method software patents emphasize competitive barriers over innovation

Entrepreneurial Academia/IP• Harvard Medical School may ease their conflict

of interest guidelines – Would give researchers greater flexibility in their

commercial dealings and more opportunity to profit from their work

• Japanese public universities may be authorized to keep half the royalties on patented inventions – Would provide incentives for entrepreneurial

activities in academia

Science with a Social Dimension

• Social equity– Equitable distribution of the benefits of science

• Social purpose– Structural outcome of scientific investments

• Social enterprises– Economic effects of research universities

Social Outcomes• Energy

– Turbines on the Great Plains generate wind power and energy

– Electric hybrid cars have become more efficient and affordable

• Health– NIH has boosted minority health research funding

• New Zealand: New government has stressed that research, science and technology will be integrated with economic and social policy

Social Outcomes for Developing Countries

• Biotechnology such as genetically altered rice could help stave off malnutrition in poor nations

• China: Encouraging scientists to conduct basic research in “fields where the needs of the state intersect the frontiers of science”

• UNESCO backs science for debt plan integrating a science funding component into negotiations for debt relief