The Faculty of 1000 is an innovative Web-based literature awareness tool published by BioMed Central. This new research service provides scientists with a continuously updated insider's guide to biology's most important papers, based on the recommendations of a faculty of more than 1,400 selected leading researchers. Each month these scientists review two to four of the most noteworthy papers they have read, which may or may not be authored by F1000 members, and post evaluations and comments o

Next to 'why is the sky blue' and 'where do babies come from,' 'why do leaves turn color in the fall' might be the most frequently asked question about nature. 

One of the enduring questions in biology is how eukaryotic cells arose from prokaryotic ancestors at least 2 billion years ago. Besides differences in genome organization, eukaryotic animals, plants, and fungi possess a much higher degree of cellular compartmentation in the form of membrane bound organelles than their distant bacterial and Archaean cousins. But how did such a plethora of cellular domains, each with a discrete role in metabolism, evolve? To the extent that science proves anythi

Like everybody else, I blanched at the horror of Sept. 11. But ever since, I've been asking myself what might seem like a trite question in light of the tragedy. In a way I guess I'm trying to extract my own brand of meaning from the rubble. Here goes: Why did so many people reach out to firefighters and their lost comrades following the Twin Towers disaster, by solemnly laying blossoms at the firehouse door? For that matter, why did the British heap flowers in front of Buckingham Palace when a

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Oct. 16 that it had reauthorized commercial planting of genetically modified corn varieties transformed with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. Bt corn, as it's known, makes toxic Cry proteins lethal to caterpillars of the European corn borer and other damaging insects.1 The proteins are harmless to humans. As a result of EPA's action, seed companies can now market the products for another seven years, depending on compliance wi

With completion of the genome sequence of the tiny mustard plant Arabidopsis imminent, researchers began anticipating the logical next step. Meeting in the fall of 1998 and again in January 2000 under the aegis of the National Science Foundation, they drew up a plan called the 2010 Project, which, if successful, would catalog the functions of all of 'the weed's' 25,000 or so genes. Their goal was ambitious: "to understand every molecular interaction in every cell throughout a plant life cycle."1

As researchers use ever more sophisticated technology to create a growing list of drugs, vaccines, foods, and devices, potential risks stalk the process. With print and electronic media prodding them along, scientists, policymakers, business people, and the public have to consider the downside of inventions as well as the benefits. Headlines continually trumpet health risks--fluoridation caught the public's eye in the 1950s with stories that the procedure could rot teeth and cause cancer. Today

From golden rice to global warming, science makes headlines these days like never before. Not since Dolly the sheep made her debut five years ago did a scientific issue command as much attention as did cloning and stem cells during the week of Aug. 6. As soon as the White House announced on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 9, that President George W. Bush would make a nationally televised speech that evening regarding federal funding of stem cell research, newspapers, TV, and the Internet courted the s

Scientists who gathered in Providence, R.I. in late July for the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists paused one evening to honor a pioneer in plant biotechnology. The society gave Swiss researcher Ingo Potrykus its Leadership in Science Public Service Award for his molecular tour de force in creating beta carotene-enriched 'golden' rice. Along with Peter Beyer of the University of Freiburg in Germany, and Xudong Ye, now at Agricetus Monsanto in Madison, Wis, Potrykus moved

The American Society of Plant Physiologists recently changed its name to the American Society of Plant Biologists and celebrated the event during its summer meeting in Providence, R.I. More than 1,400 scientists, including members of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, heard and presented results on everything from genomics to pathogenesis to pattern formation, and some of the work had strong biotechnological implications. Here's a sample of what transpired: Salt of the Earth A little

On June 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta issued a report about StarLink corn.1 Remember StarLink? Marketed by Aventis Seeds, it contained a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. The Cry9C protein encoded by the gene rendered the plants resistant to chewing insects. But unlike other varieties of Bt corn, StarLink was not approved for human consumption because of questions about potential allergenicity. Data provided to the Environmental Protectio

Mae West once said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly." Slow is certainly the word when it comes to plant sex, but that didn't stop a lot of people from taking a peek at a flowering Titan arum in the University of Wisconsin's botany greenhouse recently. When the department's prize arum decided to do its thing, the university on the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison let the whole world play voyeur every 30 seconds via a video camera connected to the Internet. Why the fuss? The Titan ar