The COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Biomedical innovation has rallied to address that pressing concern while continuing to tackle broader research challenges.

Researchers aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which a single genotype gives rise to diverse castes in eusocial organisms.

Photo: Ori Fragman, Hebrew University Hordeum spontaneum, the plant studied for BARE-1 retroelements. With genome sequences arriving almost as regularly as the morning paper, the public's attention is focused on genes--new genes to protect crops against pests; rogue genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics; faulty genes that, if fixed, could cure diseases such as muscular dystrophy. What many people don't realize is that genes account for only part of an organism's DNA, and in many c

ARCHAEOLOGY The Birth of Prehistoric Chronology: Dating Methods and Dating Systems In Nineteenth Century Scandinavian Archaeology. Bo Graslund. Cambridge University Press November, 150 pp, $39.50. Traces the origin and subsequent development of dating systems, examining how these systems grew and were improved and refined. BIOCHEMISTRY Biochemistry of Metabolism: Volume 11. David D. Davies, ed. Academic Press: November, 388 pp, $85. Discusses the metabolism of plants, emphasizing the b

LIGHTING THEIR LOCATIONS:© 2002 Cold Spring Harbor PressImmunolocalization of epitope-tagged proteins. (A-E) represent cells containing HAT-tagged proteins stained with the DNA dye, DAPI, and a monoclonal antibody against hemagluttinin, α-HA. At right the images are merged. (F-J) indicates cells carrying V5 tagged proteins. The bar equals 2 μm.Aliens sifting through the remains of a lost human civilization might puzzle over the function of a ladle. But if found in a room associate

Glial cells were once considered neurons’ supporting actors, but new methods and model organisms are revealing their true importance in brain function.

Neuroscientists are automating neural imaging and recording, allowing them to monitor increasingly large swaths of the brain in living, behaving animals.
 

Bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of animals may influence the adaptive trajectories of their hosts.

By Jeffrey M. Perkel Surpassing the Law of Averages How to expose the behaviors of genes, RNA, proteins, and metabolites in single cells. By necessity or convenience, almost everything we know about biochemistry and molecular biology derives from bulk behavior: From gene regulation to Michaelis-Menten kinetics, we understand biology in terms of what the “average” cell in a population does. But, as Jonathan Weissman of the University of Califo

From a rapid molecular test for COVID-19 to tools that can characterize the antibodies produced in the plasma of patients recovering from the disease, this year’s winners reflect the research community’s shared focus in a challenging year.