Scientific methods

Abstract

“工欲善其事，必先利其器” --‘If a workman wishes to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools.’ This ancient adage from Confucius maintains its relevance even now in the information age where the potential applications of new technology are limited only by the imagination. Historically, the development and dissemination of novel techniques & methods has served as a catalyst for scientific progress by re-defining what is possible within the laboratory. It is worth recounting that the breakthroughs in genetic engineering that led to the production of the first recombinant protein and the birth of biotechnology occurred within a decade of the discovery of the first restriction enzyme. Once again, we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in the biological sciences following the discovery of yet another mechanism of prokaryotic immunity; the CRISPR/Cas system. A series of landmark publications involving a single enzyme in this system have seen it emerge as an incredibly versatile and powerful tool capable of manipulating the transcriptome, epigenome and even the genome itself. The rate at which such technology can be adapted and repurposed by the scientific community is a testament to the power of open access resources, and their capacity to facilitate and accelerate the exchange of ideas. Given the importance of reliable techniques and methodologies in advancing scientific research, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Journal of Biological Methods (JBM, ISSN 2326-9901), a peer-reviewed open access journal dedicated to the publication of innovative, cutting-edge methods and techniques across the spectrum of life sciences.