CONTENTS

November 2007

Scientists know more than ever about the mechano-transduction channel in the inner ear: They can perform experiments with it, stimulate it, destroy it. So why can't we find it? KERRY GRENS investigates.

RELATED NEUROSCIENCE CONTENT:

The inner workings of hearing machinery

Cracking open a new channel family

Channel candidates

Baby brain bank

Facelessness, faced

The singing ear

Alzheimer's: Type 3 Diabetes?

Model of insulin's influence on amyloid β

Opening Potassium Channels to Scrutiny

We sent JULIA C. MEAD to Croatia to learn how an international team of scientists confirmed that poisoned bread causes a kidney disease endemic to the Balkans - and verified that the same toxic ingredient was in herbal supplements used around the world.

RELATED:

Clerkship in Croatia

Birth of a plant

Buzzing for bombs

Baby brain bank

Slideshow: A mysterious kidney disease

JOSEPH J. ESPOSITO takes a hard look at the state of open access publishing, noting that the field is moving beyond the binary options of making all or nothing freely available. Instead, publishers are producing various hybrid models and new, often complex, business arrangements. Will they work?

RELATED:

The nautilus model of scientific publishing

OA, OK?

How does your institution rank? Find out what your peers are saying

RELATED:

Easy livin' at Dalhousie

First-Timers

Massachusetts General Hospital: View from the top

Purdue pushes forward

Survey Methodology

Ranking Tables:

Top 15 US Academic Institutions

Top 10 International Academic Institutions

Top 40 US Academic Institutions

Best Countries for Academic Research

Best Places to Work: Survey Findings PDF

Highest scoring institutions on the categories that matter most

Aspects of work that this year's US respondents ranked most important

Demographics:

Percent of non-native respondents per country

Respondents' Primary Work Activity

Respondents' Type of Institution

 

CONTRIBUTORS

MAIL

EDITORIAL

OA , OK? How far has open access come in the last decade? And where will it go in the next?
RICHARD GALLAGHER

COLUMNS

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea? Scientists instinctively love nanotechnology, which is why they shouldn't be in charge of it.
GLENN MCGEE

Soda, with a side of Chagas How did a deadly disease creep into a popular Brazilian beverage?
JACK WOODALL

OPINION

Is the NIH Budget Saturated? Why hasn't more funding meant more publications?
FREDERICK SACHS

Notebook

The Agenda; Baby brain bank; Facelessness, faced; The singing ear; Buzzing for bombs; Frog killer

FOUNDATIONS

The Hooke microscope, circa 1665; Slideshow: A Microscopic History

PROFILES

Not Faking It Jack Szostak's pioneering work has already been rewarded with a Lasker. Now he has one more big item on his to-do list: Creating artificial life.
KAREN HOPKIN

Scientist to watch: Jennifer Elisseeff Bringing cartilage to light

Building Vaccine Consensus What has Klaus Stöhr learned since he joined Novartis in February after 15 years at the WHO?
STEPHEN PINCOCK

THE LITERATURE

Hot paper: Opening Potassium Channels to Scrutiny Crystal structure of "open" K+ channel leads to new ideas on how it works.
DAVID SECKO

Hot paper in genomics: Mining mammalian genes

Hot paper in proteomics: Auto-induction protein production

Hot paper in microbiology: This teeming earth

Trends: Alzheimer's: Type 3 Diabetes? Neurodegeneration research turns to insulin for answers
KERRY GRENS

LAB TOOLS

Going Live ALLA KATSNELSON writes on how to choose a live cell imaging microscope setup from the maze of available options. Plus, profiles of microscope users: Pooling resources; Prioritizing speed; Mix and match; Deep down view; Sticking to the surface. And tips on choosing a setup.

How it Works: Two-Photon Microscopy

CAREERS

Bringing Order to Authorship How to resolve authorship disputes - and avoid them altogether.
ANDREA GAWRYLEWSKI

Managing Authorship