CONTENTS
January 2008
Can we make fat burn energy instead of store it? BRUCE SPIEGELMAN has spent decades tracing the connection between fat cell development and obesity, and discovered the "master genes" of fat cell development (one of which other researchers have since identified as the receptor for a few antidiabetic drugs). Currently, he's on the hunt for drugs that tip the energetic balance in a way that boosts energy expenditure, helping people lose weight. |
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 Climate Change and the Biosphere Global warming spells danger for Earth's biomes, which in turn play an important role in climate change. We present some of the specific changes and policy recommendations from F. STUART CHAPIN, a professor of ecology at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. BY THE SCIENTIST STAFF |
RELATED: F. Stuart Chapin on climate change |
What is the responsibility of the company running a clinical trial when one of its participants develops a serious complication? Last year, Doug Bergman participated in a cardiac stem cell trial; in September, he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). IVAN ORANSKY asks: Could they be related? |
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EDITORIAL Am I Sexist?
Here's what The Scientist will do to support women in science. COLUMNS Telling Science's Stories In case you didn't realize it, biology is built on an oral tradition. Is the US Party Over? The country's fading dominance in life sciences research spells trouble for the whole world. Notebook The Agenda; MRSA: RIP?; Trash to treasure; Call of the squash; The virus hunter; (Slideshow: Monkeypox in the Congo); Fortifying food FOUNDATIONS PROFILES A Biochemist by Nature Danny Reinberg has broken down everything from transcription factors to chromatin. Then he builds them back up, and the discoveries come. Scientist to Watch: Amy Wagers Setting the record straight BIOBUSINESS: Reinventing the Sequencer Helicos' Bill Efcavitch is confident that he can produce a machine that will sequence genome for $1,000 in ten days. It hasn't been an easy road. THE LITERATURE Hot paper: Climate Change and Frog Deaths Biologists agree that amphibian populations are undergoing massive extinctions - they just can't agree on why. Hot paper in membrane receptors: Bifunctional signaling proteins Hot paper in phylogeny: Tunicate classification Hot paper in plant biology: The drought receptor Citation Classic: 50 Years Ago in Immunofluorescence A virologist recalls developing a green dye that is now a staple of research LAB TOOLS Let it Flow
Innovative solutions with small-scale microfluidics. Plus, profiles of microfluidics users: Source and Sink; Membrane interface; Conservation max and Scaling down. And Tips for planning and building small-scale microfluidicsystems CAREERS Fixing the Leaky Pipeline Why aren't there many women in the top spots in academia? Plus 10 ways to help women in science. |