This double issue of Frontiers in Life Science contains a Commentary, a short Review, and a number of Research articles covering topics from medical biology, neural networks and structural biology which, we hope, convey an idea of the range of topics that can fall within the range of our Journal.
In this Editorial I would particularly like to make some remarks on the Commentary written by Marc Joyeux, ‘At the conjunction of biology, chemistry and physics: the fast movements of Dionaea, Aldrovanda, Utricularia and Stylidium’. First of all, to us editors this Commentary illustrates in a particularly brilliant way how different disciplines can contribute to the understanding of a specific biological question. Joyeux shows us how physical modeling can be of use to explain how carnivorous plants can create the fast motions required to capture their prey. Motion, and let alone fast motion, is something usually nobody associates with plants – to move somewhere, plants usually grow.
My second reason to highlight this paper is that I would like to explain the idea of a ‘Commentary’. Most importantly, a Commentary paper should be short and concise. It should provide an introduction to a problem of biological relevance and express a viewpoint about it, which can also be controversial on a scientific basis. Commentaries can serve as a quick introduction to a field, which is the intention of Joyeux's paper. We hope that Commentaries can help to promote the discussion of specific issues – and will be happy to consider responses to them for publication, provided that the expressed opinion is developed to a similar level as in the original Commentary.