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Headlines on biosecurity, stem cell research, and drug development suggest that the life sciences are expanding rapidly, but this is not reflected in salary growth for US life scientists, which has remained relatively stagnant. The consumer price index has risen 3.0% since July 2003, but salaries for life scientists have marked only a 2.3% increase, according to The Scientist's 2004 salary survey.Some cities, sectors, and specializations in the life sciences posted slight increases in income thi

In the world of fluorescent labels, organic dyes are out, and quantum dots (QDs) are in. These nanosize crystals of semiconducting material (typically CdSe) sport a broad excitation profile, strong fluorescence, enviable photostability, and narrow, size-dependent emission spectra. QDs are ideally suited for most multiplexed fluorescence applications, but not for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET).Because different QDs will fluoresce under the same excitation wavelength, they cannot fu

These papers were selected from multiple disciplines from the Faculty of 1000, a Web-based literature awareness tool http://www.facultyof1000.comN. Gupta-Rossi et al., "Monoubiquitination and endocytosis direct γ-secretase cleavage of activated Notch receptor," J Cell Biol, 166:73–83, July 5, 2004.This paper is important because it shows that the Notch receptor must be monoubiquitinated and endocytosed before it can be cleaved by presenilin/γ-secretase, a key step in Notch activa

Courtesy of Andrew Baker, Wildlife Conservation SocietyRutgers University scientists have identified a physiological mechanism behind the bleaching that has affected coral reefs worldwide over the past three decades. Bleaching follows a rise in sea temperature, and it involves the ejection by coral polyps of symbiotic, photosynthetic algae from their tissues. Led by Paul Falkowski, professor of biological oceanography, the study finds that the melting of the fatty acid-based thylakoid membrane o

© 2004 Society for NeuroscienceScientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have created a transgenic mouse that will allow researchers to visualize patterns of activity directly in individual neurons in vivo.1 To create the animals, Alison Barth and colleagues coupled the c-fos promoter, which is typically activated during neural activity, to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker. "By coupling c-fos activation to the expression of GFP, I could now see cells that were specifica

Combining the visual power of standard immunostaining with the broad scope of the protein array, the Staining Antibody Array from Worcester, Mass.-based Hypromatrix http://www.hypromatrix.com allows researchers to stain different cells in the same sample for dozens of proteins simultaneously. The array, containing about 100 antibodies fixed on a nitrocellulose membrane, is incubated with the tissue to be stained. When the array is removed, the antibodies remain bound to proteins in the tissue an

Courtesy of BD Biosciences ClontechPalo Alto, Calif.-based BD Biosciences-Clontech's Nucleo-Spin DNA extraction systems received a design update – this spring, making the popular kits more user-friendly and cost-efficient for labs with both high- and low-throughput applications http://www.clontech.com."We've changed the format of the eight-well strips so they look and handle identical to the 96-well plate," says product manager Linnea Hager. The eight-well strips and 96-well plates are now

Though recognized as prime drug targets, membrane proteins largely remain terra incognito for structural biologists because they are so difficult to express in eukaryotic-cells. Michael Mendez of Gryffin Consulting, a genetic engineering firm, explains that the main difficulty in expressing membrane proteins is cell toxicity: Overexpressed proteins that cannot be processed in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) initiate apoptosis, killing the cell. Altering the processing mechanism would prevent cell

Courtesy of Jong-Hoon Kim & Ron McKay, NIHA human embryonic stem cell starter panel that allows for the in vitro expansion of human ESCs is now available from Minneapolis-based R&D Systems http://www.rndsystems.com. The kit contains human FGF basic protein, antibodies to Oct-3/4, stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-4, and alkaline phosphatase to monitor the cells' differentiation status."The biggest plus as well as the biggest problem with ESCs is that they are multipotential and can

Applied Biosystems www.appliedbiosystems.com, based in Foster City, Calif., has introduced a new family of reagents for multiplexed LC/MS experiments. The iTRAQ reagents enable comparison of protein expression in multiple samples, such as those of normal, diseased, and drug-treated states, and have the ability to detect posttranslational modifications, the company claims. The company has also released Pro QUANT software for automated analysis of LC/MS data collected using the reagents.ICAT reage

A few weeks ago I spotted, in someone's trash, Isaac Asimov's science fiction classic, The Foundation Trilogy. Shortly after, I found the 1954 giant-ants-in-L.A. film, Them, in a discount store video bin. Garbage to some, these tales were once treasures to me, although I prefer science fiction more subtle than the formulaic doomsday scenarios of humanity succumbing to oversized or overabundant (a) birds, (b) mind-snatching seed pods, (c) blobs, and of course (d) ants. The humans always prevail.T

Scientists support therapeutic cloning, but the government position on UN vote is vague