Robert S. Eisenberg
Abstract
Mikhail Shapiro's lab investigated a promising new method for non-invasive control of calcium currents in individual cells in the nervous system by the selective heating of nanoparticles and show that simple physical laws, properly applied, explain what is happening, and so can be a foundation for constructing improved methods and techniques. They use custom built instrumentation and detailed quantitative measurement to show that special surface properties are not needed to explain their results. Their work is taken as an example of the need for quantitative measurement in biophysics and biology in general. Classical examples are cited and the argument is made that the success of structural and molecular biology has hidden the need for quantitative measurements and controls. Semiconductor and computational electronics is cited as a science even more successful than structural and molecular biology that depends on quantitative measurement, controls, and analysis.