FEATURE ARTICLE
An American scientist in Tehran
Rudolf Raff
The main problems for science are not within the country but in moving people and equipment between Iran and the rest of the world.
International collaborations are even more crucial for scientists in Iran than in other countries because of the absurd logistical hurdles Iranian scientists face in doing their work. The main problems for science there are not within the country, but in moving people and equipment between Iran and the rest of the world. Although Iran has a permissive internal regulatory environment and its researchers are well funded, the country cannot import the scientific equipment and supplies that most stem-cell scientists use every day, and that many could not imagine doing without. This is largely the result of trade sanctions imposed on Iran by other countries, including the United States and the European Community, under which the export of some items of scientific equipment to Iran is banned and others require special export licenses.
One scientist I met had completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Canada before choosing to come back to work in Iran. He now heads a group of researchers studying the proteomics of stem cells; they've solved crystal structures and published in international journals. But they do not have access to a mass spectrometer, the standard workhorse of almost all proteomics laboratories. The lack of instrumentation means that they must partner with other labs. Once they've succeeded in making a protein, they send it off to Germany for analysis. Again, this limitation is not because of the cost of these essential machines; it is because a part is made in America and the US trade embargo prohibits its import into Iran.
Sheikh Lotfallah mosque in Isfahan
» Post Comment