HEART NEWS and VIEWS the News Bulletin of the International Society for Heart Research
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HEART NEWS AND VIEWS The News Bulletin of the International Society for Heart Research www.ishrworld.org Volume 9, Number 3, 2001 N ONE of the preced- Past Truth&Present Poetry fervently embraced this I ing contributions to concept and pursued it for HEART NEWS AND many years, until over- VIEWS, “Molecular Biology: The Begin– whelming evidence convinced him that his nings”, reference was made to Max Delbruck approach had failed to solve the secret of as a driving force in the new science of the gene. Biology, unlike theoretical Molecular Biology [1998; 6 (1): 1-2]. physics, does not reveal its secrets through Delbruck’s life spanned two continents in formulae alone. And yet, as Newton has a critical portion of the 20th Century, when stated, the real basis of science is the physics was changing our view of the conviction that Nature, under the same infinitesimal small and the infinitesimal conditions, will always exhibit the same large. It was thought then that concepts of regularities. This fact certainly applies to the new atomic physics could be adopted Physics as well as to Biology, although in to biology, providing it with a fundamental Biology, many different forces determine basis. 18. Heroic Errors the final single vector. It is not the prime goal of this com– in Science Bohr formulated his concepts in an article munication to recite all the facts of (Max Delbruck) published in Nature in 1933, “Light and Delbruck’s life. But, the fate of Delbruck’s Life”. As he wrote, “The unexpected family caught in the turmoil of the middle of discovery of an essential limitation of the the 20th Century is mentioned because it is an indication of mechanical description of natural phenomena, revealed by how the intellectual elite of Germany was exterminated by the the recent development of natural phenomena of the atomic Nazis. Max Ludwig Henning Delbruck was born in Berlin in theory, has lent new interest in the old problem”. 1906. He grew up in a suburb of Berlin, the Grunewald, which Bohr believed that irregularities peculiar to atomic for many years was the center of Berlin’s intelligentsia. His processes, which find their place only within the father was professor of history at Berlin University. Three of complementary mode of description, are as important for the his father’s cousins were respectively a professor of German account of the behavior of living organisms as they are for literature, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Minister the specific properties of inorganic matter. In other words, of State. His mother’s brother-in-law was professor of biological processes are subject to physical laws. As an Theology at Berlin University. The circle around young example he cites the carbon assimilation of plants, or the Delbruck included the Bonhoeffers and the Von Harnacks. stability of atomic structures exhibited in the properties of Karl Bonhoeffer was professor of Psychiatry. The Bonhoeffers chlorophyll or hemoglobin. Bohr wrote that the existence of played a tragic role: Hitler executed two Bonhoeffer brothers, life must be thought of as an elementary fact that cannot be Klaus and Dietrich, and two Von Harnacks cousins, Ernst explained, but which must be taken as a starting point in and Arvid, together with the latter’s American wife, who Biology, “in a similar way as the quantum of action” which were leading members of the resistance. Delbruck’s brother forms the foundation of atomic physics. Justus was later arrested by the Russians, and died in a Bohr’s work, his personality and his approach greatly Russian camp. influenced Delbruck. As a result, Delbruck attempted to Delbruck’s scientific career was determined by his approach the subject of x-ray induced mutagenesis by relationship to Niels Bohr in Copenhagen, at a time when physical laws together with Zimmer, a physicist, and Bohr formulated his concept in which he attempted to apply Timofeeff, a biologist. The question was, what causes laws of atomic physics to biological phenomena. Delbruck mutagenesis after radiation? Delbruck asked how physics NEWS BULLETIN 1 can account for changes and for methods could be used to furnish viable The approach was wrong, but it was an consistence in mutation, the hallmarks models. He and Luria sent Watson to error of heroic proportions. Heroic of mutation. He believed that biological Europe to learn nucleic acid chemistry. mistakes in science deserve as much phenomena can be explained by quan– The answer to the nature of the gene attention as the truly successful tum mechanics, the quantum mechanical came, to a large extent, from x-ray discoveries. model of the gene. Delbruck wanted to diffraction discovered in 1912 in Delbruck was honored with the Nobel demonstrate facts of genetics by Munich’s Institute for Theoretical Prize in 1969. fundamental or physical theory, which Physics, a method later extended by he called, “atomic association” — the Bragg in Cambridge, England. The first stability of the gene was due to the successful picture of DNA was obtained References strength of interatomic forces, and its in 1938. 1. Olby, R. Path to the Double Helix. mutations were the result of a quantum What shall we make of Delbruck’s University of Washington Press, 1974. jump from the stable configuration of failed initial approach to solve the riddle 2. Hayes, W. Max Ludwig Henning the energy hump which separated one of the gene? Should we look at it as an Delbruck 1906-1981. Biographical Memoirs configuration from another. Thus, insignificant mistake, which does not of Fellows of the Royal Society 1982; 28: 59-96. Delbruck actually depreciated bio– deserve to be recorded in the fast chemistry, and according to Watson, progressing history of science? By no 3. Bohr, N. Light and Life. Nature 1965; opted for a combination of genetics and means! Delbruck’s failure was caused 131: 421-423, 457-459. physics. by the overwhelming impact of new But after 1949, Delbruck had ceased physics of the early and middle 20th Richard J. Bing, M.D. to trust in a combination of genetics and Century, which, with its unrelenting physics. He realized that experimental advance swept biology into its sphere. Translational Approaches to Cardiovascular Disease 24th Annual Meeting of the ISHR - North American Section Madison, Wisconsin, July 24-27, 2002 The ISHR – North American Section invites you to attend its 24th Annual Meeting, July 24-27, 2002, at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. The meeting will be organized by the University of Wisconsin Cardiovascular Research Center and will feature symposia and workshops on “Translational Approaches to Cardiovascular Disease”, including: Heart Failure Ischemia / Reperfusion Myofibrillar Regulatory Mechanisms Arrhythmias and Ion Channels Endothelin Signaling in Heart Disease Acquired Valvular Heart Disease Gene and Cell Transfer to Myocardium Vascular Biology Proteomics Workshops: Expression Profiling Genomic Approaches in Cardiovascular Research Further information is available on the conference website at www.ishr2002conf.org/ . For additional information, please contact Richard L. Moss, Ph.D., Director, UW Cardiovascular Research Center, Professor and Chair, Department of Physiology, Tel. +1 608 262 1939, Fax +1 608 265 5072, E-mail [email protected], or Barbara R. Weitz, M.A., Administrator, UW Cardiovascular Research Center, Tel. +1 608 263 2266, Fax +1 608 265 8745, E-mail [email protected] . 2 NEWS BULLETIN PRESIDENT'S LETTER Why do the birds keep on singing? What a difference a couple of months makes! After September 11th America was nothing less than under siege. First, the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Then there was a week of stranded travelers and eerily empty skies except for the occasional prowling fighter jet. The entire country came to a halt and it was just as well because we were all in a state of shock and mourning. We literally could not think of anything else but our sorrow. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse the anthrax deaths started. It felt like we were in a hole we could never get out of. Despite our despair, however, the sun did continue to rise and birds did continue to sing. Gradually life began to take on a sense of routine once again and we adapted to the tighter security and the new rules. There was a rather disquieting announcement from the government encouraging us to travel again but they also stated that if you happened to be on a hijacked airliner it would be shot down immediately. Not exactly a winning marketing campaign for the travel industry. Nevertheless, little by little Americans returned to their business. The American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Anaheim last November had only about 2/3 the normal number of delegates. Actually if you were able to get Anaheim the meeting was very nice. Usually the AHA is chaos with wall-to-wall people. But this year you could get a hotel room within walking distance of the convention center and there was never a wait for a lunch table. I haven’t seen an AHA like that in decades. Amazingly most of the basic science presenters did show up for their talks. Bob Mentzer, Masafumi Kitakaze, Masatsugu Hori and myself organize a small satellite symposium at the AHA meetings every year. Understandably our advance registration was miniscule and on October 1st we had to make a go or no-go decision with the Queen Mary where we were contracted to meet. After much debate among the four of us we canceled. In actuality we probably should have gone through with the meeting as people had started to venture out of their bunkers by November. On the second day of the AHA conference I woke up to the morning news cameras trained on a column of smoke rising from a downed airliner in a New York suburb.