Sixty years ago, or sixty-one to be precise, Emile Zuckerkandl, Richard T. Jones and Linus Pauling published a paper comparing patterns of hemoglobin tryptic peptides from different species. Ben Neely and I recently revisited this paper, and some of the literature following on this work, retracing the history of molecular phylogenetics and proteomics in very broad strokes. Originally, we intended to write this as a commentary for PNAS, but as it turns out, the journal only allows comments on recent articles. Perhaps this is a bit of a shame, as it discourages rediscovery of ideas and fresh takes on particular past work. Fortunately, the Journal of Proteome Research allowed us to submit this as a Perspective. I cannot stress sufficiently how rewarding it was to research this topic with Ben, even if it took over two years from initial idea to published perspective. The reviewers - who are still unknown to us - were highly knowledgable on the history of the topic, and had a major and positive influence on the final version of the manuscript. The internal working title of the manuscript, and how Ben and I referred to this project, was “Z’s Ghost” in reference to the first author of the 1960 paper and how we followed its ripples through time. I hope people will be able to derive some enjoyment reading the paper from the tremendous fun we had writing it!
Loose Leaves
On Science, its History and Research Integrity.