Profile of Randy Schekman: Reflections on his first year as PNAS Editor-in-Chief

摘要

While the pace, tools, and culture of science have evolved over Randy Schekman's distinguished career, he has continued to hold on to some core principles of research. Inspired in part by his mentor, Nobel laureate Arthur Kornberg, Schekman takes a "reductionist" slant to science—identifying, separating, and purifying the individual components of a system so that each can be intently studied until its nuances are understood. Schekman also believes that although new technologies certainly have their place, classical techniques, such as biochemical assays, remain powerful approaches to tackling fundamental questions. As editor-in-chief, Schekman holds these same values in his vision for PNAS.