Long and Productive Life to Austin Biomolecules Open Source Journal

Editorial

A new scientific journal is newly born today with the publication of his first volume, good luck and success in Austin Biomolecules for the best use of the scientific community but especially for the well-being of our planet. Indeed, our earth has been much damaged during the 20th century by excessive and inadequate use of synthetic molecules of all types for all purposes (textiles, agriculture, polymers, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, electronic, etc.) and it is a proven fact that our world is nowadays in a very worrying state, threatening our way of life and consequently jeopardizing our future generations. The facts are alarming levels of air pollution, water and soil leading to a global warming accompanied by environmental, societal, economic and unprecedented weather disasters. Unfortunately, this is far from over because we always pollute even more than before, however well with a positive note because it would appear that awareness on a global scale is emerging. So what? Stop using synthetic chemistry in the service of man? It would be a drastic and effective solution but surely unthinkable today as our way of life is highly dependent on this transversal science which is initiated in all areas of our lifestyle.

So we have to rethink our way of life but especially our way of making chemistry sciences. Internationally, it took almost a century to move from awareness of the environment of (human) health (International Sanitary Conference in Vienna in 1874) to the health of the (surrounding) environment (of human) (Stockholm Conference on human environment in 1972). Emerged in the early 90s, the concept of Green Chemistry through twelve main principles is the response of the academic community of chemistry to move towards sustainable chemistry keeping in mind the benefit of humankind but not limited to. Two of its main principles include the use of less toxic molecules and to use renewable raw materials. This is not in itself a novelty and that is what people have always done until the advent of the industrial era and modern chemistry, which largely contributed to forget the basic precepts to live in agreement with our natural environment. We have throughout the history the existence of brilliant now extinguished civilizations that have completed a remarkable degree of modernity, using natural resources in the environment where they\settled. A major source, if not the sole, was of course the biomass resource which is virtually inexhaustible provided that it is managed through a sensible and rational way of thinking. Biomass is a key component to our way of life, evidenced by the number of equally diverse molecules and essential that we can find, such as sugars, carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, fats, prostaglandins, nucleic acids, lignin, cellulose, starch, etc. as many molecules that can get into the development of new processes and new molecules for our sakes and all. There are now many areas where biomolecules have become key actors as in the production of biofuels, biodegradable polymers or in pharmaceuticals. So we have at our disposal a true almost inexhaustible mine of natural molecules therefore non-toxic gasoline for most of them while we insist to synthesize molecules which often are very expensive for same or similar functions. But to exploit the mine in a targeted and effective way, we must know them, isolate, identify, characterize and understand their modes and conditions of reactivity to be able to react selectively or to modify them in order to obtain the desired product. We must be convinced that the path to transform our high-consuming society and disrespectful of the environment in a society with a degree of sufficiently mature and responsible sustainability will be strewn with pitfalls but the scientific community, that is to say all of you players and actors of scientific publications, can largely contribute. Having a specialized journal focusing on multidisciplinary knowledge of natural molecules whatever the types they are, moreover Open Source and thus worldwide accessible, is a unique and wonderful opportunity to exchange and to share the latest advancements in the world of basic research and applied. I also hope that this journal will contribute to establishing lasting and sustainable links between the worlds of industry and basic research that is lacking at present. I also hope that this journal will help convincing worlds of industry and finance that we are on track to build a sustainable society, that we have learned from past mistakes and that we can or will soon be able to deliver realistic solutions to current issues pragmatically and often no more expensive than existing methods. The international quality of the editorial office should be the guarantor of an exemplary and impeccable peer-review system giving the chance to each and every one to publish their results in a selfless spirit of scientific sharing. The work of reviewers will also be a key factor in placing this journal among the best in its field and to attract new readers and authors. Finally, you, academicians’ colleagues, students, engineers, technicians, please help us that this journal acquires an impeccable international scientific reputation by the exemplary quality of your work that you will submit.