The Nutshell Articles | The Scientist Magazine®| Page 306

Most Recent

Cloning in Iran

By Stephen Pincock | August 11, 2006

Iranian biosciences aren?t exactly top of the news agenda these days, so I was interested to linkurl:read;http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,1839217,00.html this week that researchers at Tehran?s linkurl:Royan Institute;http://www.royaninstitute.org/ have "succeeded" in producing what is apparently the Middle East's first cloned sheep. The sheep died minutes after it was delivered at the institute, which specializes in fertility issues (Royan meaning Embryo in

2 Comments

Stem cell reprogramming clues revealed

By Alison McCook | August 11, 2006

During one of the most linkurl:memorable;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23254/ conference sessions I attended, a researcher from Japan wowed an entire Keystone meeting on stem cells by announcing he had found a way to reprogram adult stem cells into embryonic stem cells using only a few factors. What those factors were, however, Shinya Yamanaka from Kyoto University wouldn?t say -- even after numerous probing questions from the audience. Now, Yamanaka is revealing his secrets in the

5 Comments

Another sad anniversary

By Brendan Maher | August 9, 2006

It?s been a summer of depressing anniversaries, but not until now have I had the occasion to remember, vividly, the actual events. I was too young to remember the first reports of linkurl:AIDS, 25 years ago.;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23586/ Legionnaire?s disease, happened (just a few blocks from where I now work) linkurl:five years earlier;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/88/ than that. But I still remember quite vividly watching President Bush give his linkurl:firs

0 Comments

Consumer genetic tests on trial

By Brendan Maher | August 2, 2006

I was glad to see that someone?s taking direct-to-consumer genetic testing to trial. Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics is a burgeoning experimental science as we?ll be writing about in September, but the common refrain among many experts -- ?It?s not ready for prime-time? -- hasn?t stopped several companies from marketing store bought genetic tests which are used with a lifestyle inventory to provide customized nutritional guidance. I?ve been linkurl:skeptical, to say the least,;http://www.the-s

3 Comments

A second code?

By Brendan Maher | July 25, 2006

Nicholas Wade extols the virtues of chromatin organization and regulation in today?s linkurl:__Science Times__;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/science/25dna.html hitting on a topic that I always love reading and writing about. Here he talks about DNA directed nucleosome positioning. Certain DNA sequences, perhaps because of their relative bendability, might be more or less amenable to histone wrapping making some regulatory sequences more or less accessible. A linkurl:recent paper;http://www

3 Comments

Join the discussion(s) on science in TV

By Ivan Oransky | July 19, 2006

A linkurl:piece;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23878/ we ran on July 7 has given birth to a great forum linkurl:thread;http://forums.lablit.com/viewtopic.php?t=177; on LabLit -- created by Jennifer Rohn, one of our contributing editors -- on Stephen Gallagher's work and science on television. Gallagher himself has even taken part. Join it, and add your comments to our story (see linkurl:comment link;http://www.the-scientist.com/forum/addcomment/23878/ at the end of the story, where se

0 Comments

Senate okays expanded stem cell funding

By Alison McCook | July 18, 2006

In a largely symbolic victory for biomedical research, the Senate today (July 18) approved a linkurl:controversial bill;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/23895/ (HR 810) to extend Federal research funding to newly derived human embryonic stem cells (hESC). The legislation faces a veto from President Bush, who opposes the expansion of funding on ethical grounds. Indeed, on Monday (July 17) the White House reaffirmed the president?s intention to veto the bill. After 12 hours of discussi

0 Comments

What do you mean by ?embryo??

By Alison McCook | July 16, 2006

?It?s how we describe the thing that almost makes more of a difference than what it is.? These words, from linkurl:Patricia Alt;http://wwwnew.towson.edu/healthscience/alt.html of Towson University in Maryland, are particularly applicable to hot button issues in bioethics, particularly the ever-raging debate over using embryos for stem cell research. At linkurl:this week?s;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23946/ conference on linkurl:Bioethics & Politics,;http://politics.bioethics.net/

3 Comments

Civility and civil disobedience

By Alison McCook | July 14, 2006

The linkurl:Bioethics & Politics;http://politics.bioethics.net/ conference hosted by the Albany Medical College got off to a bang today, not a whimper. As participants trickled in, networking and finding old friends, another, uninvited group calmly filed in, parked in front of the room, and started shouting at the tops of their lungs. The protesters, around 30 or so, were from linkurl:Not Dead Yet,;http://www.notdeadyet.org/ a disability rights group that is against legalized euthanasia and oth

1 Comment

Venter Institute tests 454?s mettle

By Jeff Perkel | July 11, 2006

A linkurl:paper;http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0604351103 published this week in PNAS provides a possible glimpse at the near-term future of linkurl:next-gen sequencing;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23051/ technologies. Susanne Goldberg, Justin Johnson, and colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute compared the cost of sequencing six marine microbial genomes using traditional Sanger sequencing chemistry (using an Applied Biosystems 3730xl), 454 Life Sciences? pyrosequ

3 Comments