January 2006

Synthetic biology requires intelligent design, but not the kind they teach in Kansas

Worried about avian flu? Never mind. What about yellow fever?

Interrogating bacteria for their essential gene sets

Credit: Courtesy of Margus Pooga" /> Credit: Courtesy of Margus Pooga Controversy still surrounds how certain cationic peptides enter the cell, spurred in part by this paper.1 The so-called cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), which include short fragments of Tat from HIV-1, appeared to cross plasma membranes directly. This was surprising because the heavily arginated Tat is not the kind of molecule one often sees getting past

Credit: Christian Darkin/Photo Researchers Inc." /> Credit: Christian Darkin/Photo Researchers Inc. Breeders have long known that assisted reproductive technologies lead to a higher incidence of so-called large-offspring syndrome in cattle and sheep. In 2003, Andrew Feinberg of Johns Hopkins and Michael DeBaun of Washington University, St. Louis provided the first evidence that the same phenomenon can occur in humans.1 Using an epidemiol

Credit: Getty Images" /> Credit: Getty Images M.T. Croft et al., "Algae acquire vitamin B12 through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria," Nature, 438:90?3, Nov. 3, 2005. Besides presenting key data on why [B12] is needed in some algae and not in others, this paper brings to light a ? type of interaction between algae and bacteria that could be of considerable ecological importance. Daniel Vaulot National

Hundreds of papers have been published on Nod1 and Nod2, two intracellular proteins that recognize bacterial cell-wall components and play key roles in innate immunity and possibly Crohn disease. Stephen Girardin and colleagues at the Institut Pasteur in Paris recently identified the residues in human Nod1 responsible for recognizing the muropeptide TriDAP.1 Faculty of 1000 reviewer Richard Stevens at Harvard Medical School and Br

Credit: Copyright Pasieka/Photo Researchers, Inc." /> Credit: Copyright Pasieka/Photo Researchers, Inc. Alternative splicing promises to help resolve the question of how 25,000 genes could possibly be enough to encode instructions for a huge range of specialized human cells from osteoplast to neuron. Robert Darnell and colleagues at The Rockefeller University, New York, combined microarray analysis with sophisticated bioinformatics too

These three tech developments could make an appearance on your benchtop this year.

Anxious to get going with RNAi? These tips will make your next knockdown a knockout

Compelling science doesn't always make a good commercial case. Here's how to tell the difference.

Are intellectual property protections slowing progress?

Throughout your career in the life sciences, you've been socking away money, whether it's into a 401(k), a 403(b), some other IRA, a college fund, or a house. That's good. Inflation, however, can be a wolf at the door. What can you do to protect yourself? Like hindsight, judging the impact of inflation on investments is 20/20, but by that point it's often too late. The only effective way to protect your investments is to defend yo

Credit: Mark Evans" /> Credit: Mark Evans NIH To Student Loaners: Let's make a deal Struggling to make your student loan payments? The National Institutes of Health has a deal for you. In exchange for a two or three-year commitment to conduct specific research at your university or nonprofit institute, the NIH will repay up to $35,000 per year of your undergraduate and graduate school debts as well as any resulting increased tax