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Director Roger Pedersen expects to lure top US researchers for embryonic stem cell work

Review of 1800 outside activity requests 'cursory,' key lawmaker says

In 1988, The Scientist featured the most highly cited papersin the life sciences. All were method papers, with the venerable Lowry protein measurement technique nominated as the King of Citations.1Looking at papers published in the past 10 years using ISI Essential Science Indicators, we found that method papers still rule, though the focus has changed from measuring cell constituents to conducting computer analysis of nucleic acid and protein sequences.- Alexander Grimwade

Courtesy of Dietmar SchumuckerI got this cDNA sequence alignment for the Dscam gene in October 1999 while working in Larry Zipursky's lab. The gap in the alignment hinted at alternative splicing of the transmembrane domain. But that was just the tip of the iceberg: The handwritten inset is from my notes indicating not only this successful sequencing reaction but also that two reactions failed – much to my frustration (see the question marks). It turned out, however, that this was good news

MOLECULAR CARTOGRAPHY:Recognizing that much of the cell's work is done not by individual proteins but by large macromolecular complexes, researchers increasingly are trying to map protein-protein interactions throughout the cell. This map of the C. elegans interaction network, or "interactome," links 2,898 proteins (nodes) by 5,460 interactions (edges). (reprinted with permission, Science, 303:540–3, 2004.)If you want a sense of one of the hottest trends in biology today, open the hood of

Courtesy of Trident Photographic ServicesUK and US teams independently pinpointed a gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS), ending a 15-year search.12 Tests for the disorder may be forthcoming. CdLS occurs in 1 in 30,000–40,000 births, causing debilitating growth problems and deformities as well as behavioral difficulties. Misdiagnoses can result in patients succumbing to potentially fatal problems such as twisted bowel.Independently, Tom Strachan1 at University of Newcastle, UK, and I

People love to talk, and such chattiness may have catalyzed a divergence from chimpanzees. A clue to how that may have happened lies in deaf populations where sign language has facilitated marriage between individuals with the same type of recessive deafness, an example of assortative mating.Walter Nance, the human genetics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who recently modeled such relaxed selection on connexin 26 deafness,1 sees a bigger picture. "Assortative mating brings together

Courtesy of Brian OakleyResearchers say they have identified bacteria thriving at the lowest temperatures for which such activity is documented. Several such ultracold microbe findings are making the possibility of life elsewhere in the Solar System seem less distant and are presenting new biotechnological possibilities.The University of Washington's James Staley and colleagues say they cultured rod-shaped bacteria, tentatively named Psychromonas ingrahamii, from off Alaska's coast, at -12°

EXQUISITE SENSITIVITY:In the new assay system used at the Mirkin lab, the protein to be detected (in this case, prostate specific antigen, PSA) is sandwiched between a magnetic microparticle (MMP) and a gold nanoparticle (NP). The system detects the bio-bar-codes present on the NPs with sensitivity five orders of magnitude greater than that of ELISA. (Reprinted with permission, Science, 301:1884–6, 2003.)As any 5-year-old child will tell you, magnets are great for lifting things off the fl

Courtesy of Applied BiosystemsFoster City, Calif.-based Applied Biosystems http://www.appliedbiosystems.com has officially entered the microarray marketplace. Combining chemiluminescent detection with improved probe design, the new Expression Array system provides an average sensitivity of 0.5 copies per cell, compared to the one to three copies per cell afforded by most fluorescent platforms.Chemiluminescence addresses a major drawback of fluorescence-based detection systems: The light used to

Courtesy of TrimGenIf you are not lucky enough to have a restriction enzyme site in your mutation-of-interest, chances are you have had to fall back on sequencing to detect it. But this time-consuming method of detecting mutations could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to new technology called Mutector from Sparks, Md.-based TrimGen http://www.trimgen.com.According to marketing manager Brad Oswald, Mutector eliminates false positives and negatives and produces results in 2–3 hours, comp

I must admit I was jealous that Craig Venter donated his own DNA to Celera's sequencing project; his sense of self has reached the molecular level. So, I was thrilled recently to see direct-to-consumer genetic testing on the Internet.Don't misunderstand; I'm not advocating that we should get an APOE test [for Alzheimer disease] at the mall in between buying shoes and downing a Frappucino. There's serious genetic testing, for metabolic syndromes, and familial breast cancer, for example. And then