Bacteria in the gut influence the production of antibodies and themselves secrete metabolites. In a pregnant woman, these compounds may influence immune development of her fetus.

The Scientist’s annual competition uncovered a bonanza of interesting technologies that made their way onto the market and into labs this year.

Clever microfluidic platforms take the study of protein-protein interactions to a new level.

Editor's Note: On May 2, the National Academy of Sciences announced the election of 60 new members and 15 foreign associates from nine countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Nearly half of the new members are life scientists. In this article, The Scientist presents photographs of some of the new members and comments from a few of them on their careers and on past and current research. A full directory of NAS members can be found online a

Proteomes and 2D Gel Apparatus Providers Big science has moved on to proteins. With the new brand of science termed proteomics--named by the Australians Marc Wilkins and Keith Williams to mean the "set of PROTEins encoded by the genOME"--the push is on around the globe to produce a complete description of a cell/tissue/organism in terms of the proteins produced. The challenge is all the greater because the expressed protein pattern changes with time and environment--responding to developmenta