ACS Meeting Highlights Interface With Biology, Probes National Issues

"So much to do, so little time" appears to sum up the busy program planned for the 209th national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), to be held April 2-6 in the Convention Center and nearby hotels in Anaheim, Calif. The expected 10,000 participants will have a choice of attending more than 600 technical sessions, and more than 5,000 papers will be presented. The wide range of topics at this spring's meeting indicates the highly interdisciplinary nature of the field and the increasing interface of chemistry and biology, according to ACS officials. For example, sessions will cover topics such as contraceptives for the 21st century, revenge of the medfly, anti-cocaine antibodies, microbial polymers, and molecular- level bioremediation. "Chemistry has the advantage of being a very practical science, and contributes to many other fields, in addition to [providing] a significant amount of basic research of its own," says Ronald Breslow, ACS chairman-elect and a chemistry professor at Columbia University. This explains the tremendous range of interdisciplinary material at this meeting, he remarks. One relatively new collaborative field featured in a session is environmentally benign chemistry, notes Breslow. Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of efforts to minimize the impact of the chemical industry on the environment by using water as a substitute for other solvents, he says. Environmental issues are just some of topics of national importance to be addressed at the meeting. "These are very important times for science; there will be an all-day symposium on Sunday, April 2, highlighting chemistry on the national agenda," states Breslow. Cosponsored by six ACS divisions, this program will address the role of scientific research in light of the current economic and political climate. The symposium starts at 8:55 a.m. in the grand ballroom of the Anaheim Marriott. On a more global scale, scientists interested in exploring the possibilities of international research ventures may want to attend the presidential plenary session titled "International Research: The U.S.-U.K. Model." Sponsored jointly by ACS president Brian M. Rushton and Howard Purnell, president of Royal Society of Chemistry, the event will be held on Sunday, April 2, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Anaheim Marriott. Following Rushton's introductory remarks, three distinguished American and British chemists will discuss the scientific benefits of training and working on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Purnell will provide the closing remarks. The gathering will be preceded by English tea and American cookies. Biological topics are a major theme of the meeting. Attendees can hear Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp, chairman of the biology department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of President Clinton's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, present the David Perlman Memorial Lecture, "Cell Biology and Biotechnology," on Monday, April 3 at noon at the Disneyland Hotel. "There will be a high level of interest from biologists, biochemists, and biochemical engineers at our sessions, because it's important to understand both the biological as well as the engineering aspects in order to make a process or a system as efficient as possible," says Michael Betenbaugh, program chairman for the division of biochemical technology. "We have a session on the biocatalysis of nonprotein specialty chemicals, two sessions on cell-culture technology, a session on vaccines, and three sessions on separation processes, which is one of the most costly aspects of implementing a biotechnology process." In addition, an invited symposium titled "Challenges and Needs in Biotechnology" will address many of the issues involved with bringing a product from a molecule to production, notes Betenbaugh, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Don Pasto, a Notre Dame University chemistry professor and program chairman for the organic chemistry division, says the Ernest Gunther award symposium, to be held on Wednesday morning, April 5, should be of special interest to life- sciences researchers: "The award recipient, Jon C. Clardy, an X-ray spectrometrist and chemistry professor at Cornell University, has made some outstanding contributions in determining the structures of natural products." Also noteworthy for life scientists are two sessions on bioorganic chemistry, offered Monday and Thursday mornings, April 3 and 6, with several technical papers to be presented, says Pasto. Of particular interest to "online" scientists will be a series of workshops presented by ACS's Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS). A workshop will be offered on Sunday, April 2, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., covering strategies for searching STN International, an information network of nearly 200 databases containing scientific information. Sessions will be geared toward both STN users and online users who want to learn more about searching STN. Several introductory and advanced courses on online searching for chemists will be held throughout the week. "We teach researchers how to find preparations for substances using structures they know as search terms," says Mary Oroscz, one of the CAS instructors. "This is a good way to get up to speed in a particular area very quickly, especially when starting a new product." There is no charge for the CAS workshops. However, preregistration is required. For more information, contact the workshop program office at the Chemical Abstracts Service, (800) 848-6538, Ext. 3549. Fax: (614) 447-3713. Complete details on all the technical sessions and workshops, as well as the exposition, are published in this week's issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

ACS Meeting Highlights Interface With Biology, Probes National Issues

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