Features Articles - immunology, neuroscience and drug development

The Last Vaccine Frontier

By Brad Spellberg | June 1, 2011

Successful vaccines have been created to protect against pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Why aren’t there any for combating fungal infections?

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Recognizing the Human Potential

By Gene M. Shearer and Adriano Boasso | June 1, 2011

It may be time to reconsider an AIDS vaccine which is more human than viral, triggering the immune system in a way that no other vaccine does.

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Shooting Down Addiction

By Thomas Kosten | June 1, 2011

A new breed of vaccines aims to wean users off cocaine.

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An Aspirin for your Cancer?

By Giorgio Trinchieri | April 1, 2011

Can tumors—which can originate from, and often resemble, chronically inflamed tissue—be curtailed using familiar anti-inflammatory agents, without their side effects?

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Epigenetics—A Primer

By Stefan Kubicek | March 1, 2011

There are many ways that epigenetic effects regulate the activation or repression of genes. Here are a few molecular tricks cells use to read off the right genetic program.

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A father’s determination to help his son resulted in an experimental treatment for autism that uses roundworms to modulate inflammatory immune responses. Can the worms be used to treat other diseases?

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The Genes of Parkinson’s Disease

By Bobby Thomas and M. Flint Beal | February 1, 2011

The minority of Parkinson’s cases now known to have genetic origins are shedding light on the cellular mechanisms of all the rest, bringing researchers closer to a cause—and perhaps a cure.

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Mining Bacterial Small Molecules

By L. Caetano M. Antunes, Julian E. Davies and B. Brett Finlay | January 1, 2011

As much as rainforests or deep-sea vents, the human gut holds rich stores of microbial chemicals that should be mined for their pharmacological potential.

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