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Courtesy of Chrissa KioussiLike ants marching to an unspoken command, embryonic heart cells follow distinct orders for organ formation, according to a group at the Pasteur Institute. Although many cardiac regulator genes have been isolated, researchers do not understand the cellular mechanisms that form a four-chambered heart from a simple tube. To track dividing cells in an embryonic mouse heart, researchers in Margaret Buckingham's lab created a transgenic line harboring an inactivated reporte

Courtesy of Steve Scadding and Sandra AckerleyResearchers aren't sure whether chromosomes maintain their place in the nucleus through mitosis or get lost in the shuffle. Biochemist Wendy Bickmore says it's the latter. Last March, two German research teams reached opposite conclusions about the heritability of chromatin organization – where chromosomes are within the nucleus and in relation to each other.1 Now Bickmore and colleagues in the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit, Ed

The copiousness of the Drosophila Down Syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam), puzzles geneticists. Through alternative splicing, Dscam can produce 38,016 unique protein isoforms. Yet, no one has discerned a reason for such bounty. Andrew Chess and postdoc Guilherme Neves, at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, suggest that Dscam variants may serve as identity signatures to help individual neurons discern self from non-self.1In the study, microarray data revealed temporal and spati

ANATOMY OF A HYDROGELReprinted with permissions from Nature MaterialsA top and side view of the crystal lattices of the hydrogel shows the interdigitated biomolecular structure. Grey: carbon; red: oxygen; light blue: nitrogen; dark blue: oxygen of water molecules. The red dashed lines represent hydrogen-bonding networks.Put a piece of DNA on a clean, DNAase-free piece of glass, and it will probably still be there in its original state hours later. Proteins, though, are much less forgiving. They

Courtesy of ReifyHigh-content imaging systems for cell-based assays have proliferated in the past year, but so far none of the systems available allows users to directly quantify dynamic processes such as muscle contraction or cellular migration. To analyze these events, users generally have to monitor the cells throughout the course of the experiment. But a new imaging system developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Reify http://www.reifycorp.com promises to change all that."The approaches that are

Courtesy of ProtiverisSurface plasmon resonance (SPR), today's dominant bioassay technology, abolishes the need for chemical tags to identify targeted molecules. But the technique is gaining some competition. Rockville, Md.-based Protiveris's new VeriScan 3000 bioassay reader offers a cost-competitive alternative using microcantilevers that not only may be easier to use but also can read as many as 64 different samples at once.One edge of a 25-millimeter chip bears a series of silicon filaments,

As your sales rep for US Lab Robotics Inc., here's an update about our most recent models. We've come a long way since UK researchers built the first science robot. In hindsight, that first model was rather primitive. To quote its designers, it "automatically originates hypotheses to explain observations, devises experiments to test these hypotheses, physically runs the experiments using a laboratory robot, interprets the results to falsify hypotheses inconsistent with the data, and then repeats

European scientists invited to sign a petition in favor of restructuring EU's research funding program

As elections near, political parties vow to support a 'pact' for invigorating research

Waiting time averages 67 days for those engaged in sensitive technologies

But 50% increase since 1995 has been uneven among provinces and institutions

If budget is passed, New Jersey will be first US state to invest in stem cell research