As co-founder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems, Bill Joy can match technophile credentials with anybody on the planet. So when he argued that research into nanotechnology and other fields should be stopped before it wipes out humanity, humanity took notice. But most researchers think he's overstating the case.

Medical Laboratory Science↗

PubMed2000

Powering the nanoworld.

Devens Gust, a chemist at Arizona State University in Tempe, and a handful of colleagues have built tiny refineries that convert the energy in sunlight to chemical fuel to power nanomachines. The fuel in this case is adenosine triphosphate, the same energy-rich molecule that powers chemical reactions inside cells. At last August's meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., Gust reported that he and his colleagues had collaborated with other groups to run their protein-based molecular machines on little more than sunlight.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

PubMed2000

Genomics. Structural biology gets a $150 million boost.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Academies and Institutes↗

PubMed2000

Appointments. Salk Institute goes north for new CEO.

The revolving door at the top of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, took another spin last week with the appointment of neuroscientist Richard Murphy as president and CEO. Murphy, director of the Montreal Neurological Institute, will become Salk's fourth chief executive in 4 years when he takes up the reins on 1 October. Murphy, 56, says his main job will be to raise enough money to keep the endowment-poor research institute in the scientific big leagues.

Academies and Institutes↗

PubMed2000

Biochemistry. Protein arrays step out of DNA's shadow.

As technical obstacles yield, en masse protein testing is poised to take one of biochemistry's most exciting techniques into the heart of cellular chemistry. On page 1760 of this issue, researchers report creating arrays of over 10,000 proteins on a piece of glass just half the size of a microscope slide. They then used their arrays to study a variety of protein functions, including identifying members of the array that bind to other free-floating proteins and to small, druglike molecules.

Biochemistry↗