195

Science and Art: Concepts and Misconceptions The scientist is:

Brazilian Art American Art Brazilian Medic American Science
LEOPOLDO DE MEIS,* ALEXANDRE BRAGA,* n=68 n=31 n=110 n=39
VIVIAN M RUMJANEK** and FRANK BARRAL***
* Departamento de Bioquimica
Abstract/
Subjective
4.4R
l 9.7g I 12.7~

Institute de Cidncias Biom~dicas Concrete/

Objective ]~
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Cosmic 0K 0~,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
** Institute Nacional do Cancer, Rio de Janeiro 1OO 50 1000 ,lilml[0I~
50 100 50
and Per ent
*** Escola Superior de Desenho Industrial
UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The artist is:
Brazilian Art American Art Brazilian Medic American Science
n=6B n=31 n=110 n=39
Introduction
The demand for scientists is increasing both in the first
Abstrocf/
world, to replace and augment the scientific/technological Subjective
work force, and in the third world as part of the process of Concrete/
5.1P;
Objective
development. 1-6 This demand, however, is not satisfied by
the number of young people interested in undertaking a Cosmic 1.5~
I 0R 2.6 .
scientific career. It is therefore important to know which
50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100
f a c t o r s direct them towards a particular career and what Per Cent
real knowledge they have. Economic factors or existing
skills may be important but also the cultural duality Figure 1
between humanism and technology might also play a part.
Since 1900 there has been an increasing polarization
between Science and the Arts, the idea being that they are with almost the same answers. Furthermore, the abstract
antagonistic. How does this influence young people at the concepts that were applied to the artist frequently
m o m e n t of decision making? We attempted to find out by conveyed a pleasurable idea associated with the notion of
asking 248 Science and Art students from Brasil and USA freedom. The sentences used to express this feeling were:
two questions: "What does it mean to think scientifi- to be free, to have freedom, no ties, no limits, etc. This
cally?", and "What is the difference between an artist and was never applied in relation to a scientist: science was
a scientist?". The answers to the questions were analysed associated with constraints such as: to be limited, disci-
in two stages using a methodology described in more pline, obligation, follow the rules, repressed, forced, not
detail elsewhere. 1 allowed, etc. The binomial Science-constraint and Art-
freedom were expressed in 43 out of 204 responses
The Scientific Concept (21.1%). The technical skills needed for fine arts, the
The replies to the question: "What does it mean to think rules that guide written language, the physical laws that
scientifically"? were very homogeneous: 88% of respon- restrain what can be done in sculpture, the limitations of
dents independent of origin (USA or Brazil), or field of certain musical instruments, etc, were not regarded as
study (Science or Art) associated the process of scientific hindrances to artistic creation. Logic and scientific
thought with objective/concrete concepts. Reason and methodology, on the other hand, are viewed as limiting
evaluation using the scientific method, measurements and factors to the creative process.
critical analysis predominated so that often any other Finally, 35 students (17.2%) stated that there was really
influence was denied. Science appeared as an impersonal no clear-cut distinction between the artist and the scien-
activity without space for subjective concepts such as tist. This type of answer was more frequent among
intuition, imagination and creativity. American students than among Brazilian students.
The capacity to relate the question on scientific thought
to its ultimate end, the creative process that leads to an Conclusion
understanding of the cosmos, seemed to be restricted to Undergraduates, independent of their field of studies,
more experienced scientists. 1 Students did not make this tended to associate art to abstract concepts such as
association. sensitivity, inspiration, imagination and freedom, leading
to innovation and originality whereas science was seen as
Attitudes Facing Science and Art a cold, methodic subject, where reason prevails, lacking
Most of the students associated artists with abstract any kind of emotional component. Scientific methodology
concepts such as talent, creativity, emotions, sensitivity, was perceived as a limitation to creativity. This dichotomy
feeling, intuition, etc, whereas scientists were linked with was not a result of local cultural influences because the
concrete factors such as rational thought, logic, reason, same ideas were expressed whether the students were
etc (Fig 1). Students from different campuses came up from Brazil or from the USA. This suggests that precon-

BIOCHEMICAL E D U C A T I O N 21(4) 1993

196
ceived ideas in relation to science may be inhibiting
creative young students from selecting science as a career.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Funda~fio Amparo a Pesquisa do Rio de
Janeiro and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP). A Braga is a
recipient of a fellowship from CNPq. The authors are grateful to Prof
Philip Dunham for collecting answers from Syracuse University students.
References
lde Meis, L, Longo, P H and Falc[to, E B M (1989) Biochem Educ 17,
2277-132
2Anderson, A (1989) Nature 342, 355-374
3de Meis, L and Longo, P H (1990) Biochem Educ 18, 182-188
4Atkinson, R C (1990) Science 248, 425-432
5pool, R (1990) Science 248, 433-435
6de Meis, L, Machado, R C P and Rumjanek, V M (1991) Ci~ncia e
Cultura 43, 278-281
Advanced Course on Structure-Function Relation-
ships of Membrane Proteins: An Assessment of
Current Knowledge
Report by CARLOS GUTIERREZ-MERINO
Departamento de Bioquimica y Biologia Molecular
Facultad de Ciencias
Universidad de Extremadura
06080-Badajoz, Spain
Introduction
This advanced course was organized with the cooperation
of Drs Campo, Henao, Mata and Soler, and was held in
the Residence of the University of Extremadura at
Jarandilla de la Vera (Caceres, Spain) 9-12 October,
1992. It was co-sponsored by IUBMB and by the
Biomembranes and Bioenergetics Section of the Spanish
Biomedical Society.
The main objective of the Course/Workshop was to
provide up to date information on structure-function
relationships of membrane transport proteins and mem-
brane recognition (neuroreceptors and antigenic deter-
minants), and to provide a forum for an integrated
discussion of facts and limitations of presently available
technologies. The attendance was 39 professors and
established researchers and 28 predoctoral and post-
doctoral students from different universities and research
institutes in Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France, Switzer-
land, the UK, Brazil, USA and Argentine. It is expected
that the material presented and discussed will be dissemi-
nated widely to undergraduates and advanced students.
Scientific content
The scientific content of the course covered four major
topics: (1) transport ATPases, (2) neuroreceptors, (3)
surface antigens, and (4) membrane reconstitution and
advanced biophysical methodologies. Transport ATPases
were covered in depth not only for their own interest, but
also because they are good model membrane proteins (in
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 21(4) 1993
particular and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase) to
which many technologies recently developed in mem-
brane research have been applied successfully and have
yielded new insights in structure-function relationships. In
addition to covering basic and comparative aspects of the
structure and molecular mechanism of action of transport
ATPases, the lectures on sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2÷-
ATPase also covered a wide range of methodological
approaches and experimental designs to answer basic
structural and functional problems of membrane proteins,
such as the use of monoclonal antibodies and epitope
mapping, cloning and expression, site-directed muta-
genesis, production of chimeric proteins, proteolytic
digestion, rapid kinetic studies of Ca 2+ transport and of
phosphoenzyme formation and decomposition, chemical
derivatization, and the use of fluorescence and other
spectroscopic tools to monitor conformational changes.
The lectures were divided into three sessions of approx
21/2 h chaired by E Carafoli (ETH, Ziirich, Switzerland),
J V Moeller (University of Aarhus, Denmark) and L de
Meis (University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The dis-
cussions mostly emphasized the need for a combined
methodological approach to give unambiguous answers to
structure-function relationships in transport ATPases and,
in general, in membrane proteins.
One 3 h-session was dedicated to neuroreceptors con-
taining ligand-gated ion channels and to voltage-gated
channels, with particular emphasis to the nicotinic re-
ceptor as a prototype system. The lectures covered
cloning and expression, subcellular location in cultured
cells, epitope mapping, theoretical simulations and
modelling of recognition and channel structures, func-
tional electrophysiological studies in cells and in recon-
stituted systems, modulation by lipids and lipid-protein
interactions in the nicotinic receptor. The lectures
emphasized the use of spectroscopic techniques (fluor-
escence and FTIR) and of differential scanning calori-
metry to monitor conformational changes associated to
the transition to the densitized state of the nicotinic
receptor. F J Barrantes (INIBIBB, Argentina) acted as
chairman. The value of the theoretical simulations and
modelling of the nicotinic receptor sites presented by G
Lunt in regard to another receptor systems and to ionic
channels was highlighted during the discussion that
followed his talk. The need for a close interplay between
theoretical analysis and experimental data addressing
structure-function relationships of membrane proteins
was one of the major conclusions.
The lectures and discussion on surface antigens were
organized into two 21/2 h sessions chaired by F Gofii
(University of the Pais Vasco, Spain) and G Soler
(University of Extremadura, Spain). The presentations
dealt with cell surface antigens of neurophils, macro-
phages, lymphocytes and tumor cells, and viral antigens of
the hepatitis B and of influenza. The studies presented
and reviewed concerned the role of these surface antigens
in cell differentiation, and the modulation of their
expression by lipids and lipid analogues. Other lectures