Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2022

Publications

Know the Editor Erdinc Sezgin Karolinska Institutet Associate Editor Biophysical Reports

Biophysical Society Supports Peer Review Week 2022 Each September, the international

scientific community takes the opportunity to recognize the importance of peer review to the scientific process. This year’s celebration will take place September 19–23 with the theme “Research Integrity: Creating

Erdinc Sezgin

What are you currently working on that excites you? In the lab, we are interested in how collective biophysical properties of membranes determine the physiological re sponses of cells. The most exciting part for me is to develop a tool to see something previously not observable. For this reason, we spend a considerable amount of time in the lab to develop new tools and methods (chemical probes, optical instruments, software) to look at membranes through new lenses. The moments I witness when a new method works as predicted (or in a surprising way) are priceless. Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party (scientist or not)? My lab members and some science friends. Related to the previous question, the group of people I work with probably excites me the most. I have a fantastic group who are eager to learn, explore, and share. The collective mood of the group makes me come to the lab happy and excited every day. On top of that, they are really fun. Every lunch and dinner with them is full of interesting conversations and laughter.

and supporting trust in research.” This topic is a timely one, between the reproducibility crisis and public skepticism about the trustworthiness of science, including the reaction of some to science-based advice about the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a good opportunity to highlight the benefits of quality peer review and build confidence in the process. We rely on editors and peer reviewers to assess research before it is published, as well as to correct mistakes when they do occur. Academic publishers, institutions, societies, and researchers created Peer Review Week to shine a light on an activity that is essential to identifying, improving, and communicating high-quality scientific research, an activity that often goes underappreciated. The Biophysical Society thanks the editors and peer reviewers whose expertise and dedication ensures that we are publishing high quality work in the Society’s journals and that authors receive useful feedback about their submissions. More information about Peer Review Week can be found at www.peerreviewweek.wordpress.com.

Editor’s Pick Biophysical Journal Fluid-gel coexistence in lipid membranes under differential stress Samuel L. Foley, Amirali Hossein, Markus Deserno

“Despite the ubiquity of asymmetric membranes, they have not been studied nearly to the same extent as their symmetric analogs. This was largely due to the difficulty of preparing asymmetric model membranes, a challenge only recently overcome. An important but still poorly understood feature is the stress state in asymmetric mem branes, which couples to numerous properties. It was recently shown to give rise to a stiffening transition beyond sufficiently high asymmetry due to the emergence of gel domains in the compressed leaflet. In this paper, the authors introduce a theoretical model for this transition, which provides a way to infer the stress state of a membrane through observation of phase coexistence and has general implications for phase be havior in asymmetric systems.” Version of Record Published July 19, 2022 DOI:https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2022.07.021

September 2022

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