Stem cells undergo circadian cycles in humans, emerging from the bone marrow into the bloodstream at higher concentrations at night than in the day, according to a report in __Cell Stem Cell__ linkurl:this week.;http://www.cellstemcell.com/ The study suggests that a simple change in hospital procedures could significantly increase stem cell yield for therapy. "We can take advantage of [the findings] if we coordinate our clinical practices" to harvest stem cells for cancer patients late in the

Credit: Thomas Splettstoesser / wikimedia.org" /> Credit: Thomas Splettstoesser / wikimedia.org The paper: C.-L. Wei et al., "A global map of p53 transcription-factor binding sites in the human genome," Cell, 124:207-19, 2006. (Cited in 184 papers) The technique: Yijun Ruan, of the Genome Institute of Singapore, and colleagues wanted a better way to study where transcription factors (TFs) bind to DNA. They deve

A protein belonging to part of the immune system that researchers once hoped to harness to attack cancer cells actually spurs tumor growth, according to a study reported in linkurl:__Nature Immunology.__;http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ni.1655.html Researchers knocked out a receptor for one of a group of 30 proteins called linkurl:complement proteins,;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23823/ part of the body's normal immune defense repertoire, and observed decrea

A fat-based hormone, the first of its kind to be identified, may regulate the body's metabolic rate, according to a linkurl:report;http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867408010143 in this week's __Cell.__ The results paradoxically suggest that aspects of metabolic disease could be controlled by spurring the production of new fat cells. "There's a strong dogma that excess fat is bad in every form, that the effects will always be negative," said principal investigator Gokhan

Thirty-eight researchers were awarded with grants totaling $42.2 million dollars this week for their "linkurl:wild and crazy;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53456/ " ideas to change the way science is done. The EUREKA program (Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration), sought proposals from investigators that were linkurl:innovative,;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/54322/ but required little or no preliminary data. "There were so many good

Median Salary by Position, Gender Females Males Percent Difference Academic Positions       College/University Department Head (11-12 month appointment, tenured) $184,250 $213,850 16.07% College/University Department Head (9-10 month appointment, tenured) $140,000 $108,000 -22.86%

Median Salary by Position, Gender Females Males Percent Difference Academic Positions       College/University Department Head (11-12 month appointment, tenured) $184,250 $213,850 16.07% College/University Department Head (9-10 month appointment, tenured) $140,000 $108,000 -22.86%

The survey was conducted via a web-based survey which was open from February 15 to June 2, 2008. Participation in the survey was promoted by e-mail and advertising to readers of The Scientist and visitors to The Scientist web site. It was also promoted by participating scientific societies to their members. Usable responses were received from 4,702 individuals in the United States. Since many individuals are subscribers to The Scientist, and/or

TheScientist 2008 Life Science Salary Survey Are you making too much money, or too little? Could you make more? Our US salary data in the life sciences can help. By Edyta Zielinska For additional salary data by job title, location and gender, visit http://www.the-scientist.com/salarysurvey/ When Pfizer announced it was closing its Ann Arbor, Michigan, facility in January of last year, Alla Karnovsky, one of more than 2,000 employees aff

Don't negotiate? "I think it's a misnomer to use the word negotiation" to describe discussion over compensation, says Rich Pennock, vice president of Kelly Scientific Resources, a recruiting agency for the life sciences. Most of the companies Pennock recruits for have fairly standardized promotion schemes, and he says it's perfectly reasonable to ask your manager to share those policies w

The experimental chamber used in space. Credit: Courtesy of BioServe Space Technologies / University of Colorado" />The experimental chamber used in space. Credit: Courtesy of BioServe Space Technologies / University of Colorado This spring, the Space Shuttle Discovery carried some interesting cargo: Salmonella bacteria separated by a thin seal from their target host, C.elegans. The cargo came courtesy of SPACEHAB, a Texas-based

So you want to change the world? It's easier than you think.