Bioscience—Explained welcome
One summer afternoon, when the annual biotechnology course for teachers at Kristineberg Marine Research Station in Sweden was over, thoughts of a Web-based journal in bioscience started to take form.
We started our planning on the back of an envelope and now, three years later, the first issue of Bioscience Explained is on the Web.
For both economic and 'democratic' reasons, it is vital that more people understand modern bioscience and its implications for society. The ecological impact of human activity on our planet now presents unprecedented challenges which natural science will play a vital role in both understanding and managing. Biotechnology and gene technology will form a significant part of the journal.
Other biosciences are also developing rapidly and the need for modern and high-quality educational material is immense. The journal will therefore have authoritative peer-reviewed, yet easy to follow features on techniques and applications of modern bioscience, plus tried and tested protocols and ideas for ethical discussions.
Since it is very important to get our young students into natural and technical sciences, we also want to show what stimulating jobs exist after completing their studies. It is impossible to let all students visit many workplaces, but with the use of modern techniques we will give guided 'Virtual field trips' of research and production facilities.
We also know that teachers and pupils have many interesting questions to ask, both theoretical and practical, which we will help to answer. Of course, we hope for a wide and open communication with our readers. We know there are many good practical activities and other stimulating educational ideas that teachers have developed at their schools. One goal is that these should be published in Bioscience Explained, so more schools can take advantage of them.
We hope that the journal will fill the need we have found to exist and help to increase interest and understanding of modern bioscience.
