When artists Jebney Lewis and K.R. Wood asked University of Pennsylvania mathematical biology postdoc Todd Parsons for a complex concept that needed to be communicated to the broader public, it was hysteresis: the idea that seemingly gradual change can suddenly become catastrophic. Over dinner, pad of paper and pencils in hand, the three started brainstorming ways to visually embody the slow growth and sudden collapse. Several months and many sketches later, their work is now on display as an

A notoriously poor proxy for the human experience of cancer, mouse models are now undergoing a major renovation.

When the husband and wife team of Yuan Chang and Patrick Moore started looking for the causes of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare skin cancer, they suspected a virus. 

By Edyta Zielinska The closer Dr. Pablo Huertas / Steve Jackson lab / The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute The paper: A. Sartori et al., “Human CtIP promotes DNA end resection,” Nature, 450:509–14, 2007. (Cited 135 times) The finding: Stephen Jackson and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, showed that the protein CtIP, known to interact with tumor suppressor genes, could

Nanoparticles studded with short RNA molecules can silence target genes in melanoma patients, demonstrating the clinical feasibility of these techniques for the first time, according to research published online today (March 21) in __Nature.__ NanoparticlesImage: Wikimedia/Nandiyanto"This is a breakthrough for the field," said John Rossi from the City of Hope Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study. It's the first clinical proof that "RNA is entering the tumor cells and delivering the

Whether you're starting a new job or discussing a raise, every negotiation starts with current salary rates -- in other words, what are your colleagues earning? Help us figure that out by completing our salary survey online today (it'll only take 5 minutes). In November -- just before your year-end reviews -- we'll publish the most current salary data for life scientists. We'll show you how linkurl:salaries compare;http://www.the-scientist.com/salarysurvey/ by life science specializations, by

Arctic reindeer, which live most of the year in 24-hour darkness or daylight, may lack an internal clock common to most organisms, according to research published online today (March 11) in __Current Biology.__ ReindeerImage: Per Harald Olsen/WikimediaThe study found no evidence of cyclic changes in reindeer gene expression, consistent with behavioral evidence that the arctic animals do not rely on such daily rhythms. But the fact that the researchers only investigated two clock genes in one

Cancer genomics company Exelixis announced on Monday that it would cut 270 jobs, a loss of about 40% of its workforce, with the brunt of the cuts aimed at drug discovery, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Image: Donovan Govan/WikimediaThe company, which is using genomic models of cancer to screen a massive library of compounds, estimates the layoff and subsequent restructuring will save $90 million through 2011. Last year __The Scientist__ profiled the company's linkurl:

By Edyta Zielinska Early to rise © 2009 Alzheimer’s Association. www.alz.org. All rights reserved / Illustrations by Stacy Jannis The paper: K.E. Pike et al., “Beta-amyloid imaging and memory in non-demented individuals: evidence for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,” Brain, 130:2837–44, 2007. (Cited in 83 papers) The finding: One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the build-up of the abnormal

Underwater mud can conduct electricity, possibly with the help of bacteria in the sediment -- a result that helps explain the large amount of electrical activity researchers have detected in ocean sediments, a linkurl:study published;http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7284/full/nature08790.html in this week's in __Nature__ reports. The finding could change how researchers think about microbes' contributions to geochemical processes. Grey, orange and white layers of mud from the Bay

The European Research Council (ERC), today (February 19) elected social scientist linkurl:Helga Nowotny;http://www.helga-nowotny.eu/ as president of the agency. Nowotny, an emeritus social scientist at ETH Zurich, served as one of two vice presidents of the ERC during the tenure of its previous president, linkurl:Fotis Kafatos,;http://openwetware.org/wiki/Kafatos:Fotis_C._Kafatos who left the post last month to linkurl:pursue his research.;http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/ANNOUNCEMENT_Prof_Kafatos.pdf

America still produces some of the most well respected science, but with the growth seen in Asia, that may not be the case for much longer, according to linkurl:new data;http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind10/ released from the National Science Foundation (NSF) today (15 January). "Science and technology is no longer the providence of rich developed countries," said Rolf Lehming, director of NSF's Science &Engineering Indicators (S&EI) Program, during a press conference on Wednesday. "That ope