Microfluidic systems redefined biology by providing platforms that handle small fluid volumes, catalyzing advancements in cellular and molecular studies.

T. Hai, F. Liu, W.J. Coukos, M.R. Green, "Transcription factor ATF cDNA clones: an extensive family of leucine zipper proteins able to selectively form DNA-binding heterodimers," Genes and Development, 3, 2083-90, December 1989. Michael R. Green (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Mass.): "I suspect that this paper may have attracted more than the usual attention because it is relevant to several research areas, and some of the results were unexpected. We and others had bee

Check out the hottest papers in developmental biology and related fields, as ranked by F1000

Beyond The Scientist’s coverage of COVID-19’s molecular underpinnings were many other stories highlighting the advances made in scientists’ understanding of the biology of cells.

Associate Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder. Age: 43

With the help of directed evolution, scientists inch closer to developing viral vectors that can cross the human blood-brain barrier to deliver gene therapy.

But, just as antibodies are finding increasing utility in cell biology, a new Food and Drug Administration classification for those products with clinical utility may affect researchers' access to the important technology (see accompanying story). Monoclonal History MAbs were born in 1975, when Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in Cambridge, England, fused two types of cells to form a hy

But, just as antibodies are finding increasing utility in cell biology, a new Food and Drug Administration classification for those products with clinical utility may affect researchers' access to the important technology (see accompanying story). Monoclonal History MAbs were born in 1975, when Georges Kohler and Cesar Milstein at the Medical Research Council Laboratories in Cambridge, England, fused two types of cells to form a hy

Scientists have genetically modified isolated microbes for decades. Now, using CRISPR, they intend to target entire microbiomes.

HIGH THROUGHPUT: PE Applied Biosystems’ ABI 394 DNA/RNA Synthesizer is controlled by a Macintosh computer. Polypeptides (proteins) and polynucleotides (DNA/RNA) are the two essentials of organic life. Just as detailed blueprints and clay bricks are essential to construction workers, shorter synthetic versions of these two molecular workhorses-peptides and oligonucleotides-are crucial to experimental biologists. Biologists put oligonucleotides to nearly as many uses as Mother Nature does