CONTENTS
February 2008
In 2005, Susan Lolle found that a mutant Arabidopsis plant could "fix itself" back to the wild-type, and take on the genetics of its grandparents.This result, as ANDREA GAWRYLEWSKI reports, seemed to contradict the laws of Mendelian inheritance. Have the results held up? |
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Every year, more than two million healthy volunteers are poked and prodded in the name of research, and some get thousands of dollars for their time and effort. Payments continue to grow, costing companies more each year. ALLA KATSNELSON asks: Is there such thing as a "fair" price to pay clinical trial subjects? And if so, what is it? |
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If the number of useful and unique lymphocytes is so small, how are these critical immune cells replenished? STEVEN REINER describes the step-by-step logic and experiments that showed that lymphocytes accomplish this through asymmetric cell division, a process that may play an as-yet undiscovered role in a variety of biologic settings. |
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EDITORIAL Cool Heads and Hothead
Model behavior on a model organism COLUMNS Think Like a Cockroach How I survived an extinction event in biological research How to Teach Research Ethics Two scientists - neither bioethicists - describe the best course they've ever taught. Notebook The Agenda; Evolution, over easy; Needling into addiction; Calling charlatans; Tunisian trailblazer FOUNDATIONS PROFILES Writing on the Fly The Drosophila community has benefited greatly from Michael Ashburner's efforts to annotate the organism's genome - and from his contributions as an author. Scientist to Watch: Eran Segal Computing expression BIOBUSINESS: Tradition Mixes with Technology At Taiwan's TCM Biotech, Ya-Chun Wang converts ancient Chinese secrets into modern pharmaceuticals - and gets the FDA to pay attention. THE LITERATURE Hot paper: Demystifying Histone Demethylases Identification of a demethylation protein domain brings on a flood of enzyme discoveries. Hot paper in Genetics: Broken break repair Hot paper in Immunology: Inflammasome activator Hot paper in Genetics: A diabetes variant Citation Classic: 50 Years Ago in Biochemistry The discovery of transfer RNA LAB TOOLS Fine Control With siRNA experiments, you need the right combination of controls before you can trust your results. Here's how to make sure your siRNA ducks are in a row. Plus, profiles of RNAi users: Triple up and rescue; Negative controls; Order in the house and mRNA versus protein. And tips for perfect controls. CAREERS Minding your $ and ¢ How to manage personal finances and plan for retirement on a scientist's budget. |