In the early 1990s, just after Operation Desert Storm, scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research traveled to the lower Amazon basin to conduct trials with a new antimalarial medication. They found an epidemic in full swing among a camp of gold miners. The scientists labored in the humidity of the tropical rain forest to set up a clinic. But rumors slowed their progress: People said the researchers planned to develop medications, not for Brazilians, but rather for U.S. forces who

When New Jersey gave the Coriell Institute for Medical Research $5 million last year, it was the first time any state had funded an umbilical cord blood bank. But no other state has a research institute like Coriell, in Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. The nonprofit has, for nearly five decades, collected, stored, and cultured cells, providing them to almost every major research center worldwide. Courtesy of Coriell InstituteAn umbilical cord blood cassette used in storing t

During the 1990s, several labs in the United States and United Kingdom investigated the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (pVHL).

As one of the leading causes of death in the United States, cancer continues to challenge those working in the field. Despite long-ongoing research, much work remains before cancer is eradicated. Really a large family of diseases, cancer requires diverse methods for treatment and diagnosis that will only come with a better knowledge of the basic biology of the affected systems. Advances in understanding the causes, new techniques for drug discovery, and increased funding of cancer research have

Despite an overall slowdown in the economy, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are optimistic about the future and are investing heavily in research, particularly in the exploding fields of genomics, proteomics, and nanotechnology. Jobs in academia and government seem to be holding strong as well. Universities are investing in the sciences like never before and in government, the National Institutes of Health is poised to receive a record increase in funding. President George W. Bush's 2

Graphic: Leza BerardoneOne recent morning at the Applied Biosystems proteomics research center in Framingham, Mass., scientist Jason Marchese patiently used a pipettor to place tiny samples onto a 2-inch-by-2-inch plate. He was surrounded by technology as simple as 2-D gel electrophoresis apparatus and as cutting-edge as a high-throughput system that uses automated robotics for multidimensional liquid chromatography separation of proteins and an automated workstation that uses the latest in mass

Courtesy Eli Lilly and Co.Kevin Tichenor (left) and Chahrzad Montrose (right) dissolve compounds and place them in various plate formats required for biological screeing. Life science researchers may think that the most viable career opportunities lie in academia or other nonprofit settings. For scientists who are drawn to an intensive research environment, however, the pharmaceutical industry offers another option. While focused on high-quality research just like academia, the drug discovery i

Government Organizes Against Pathogen Resistance Collaboration between government agencies, academia, and the private sector is the key to combating pathogen resistance and finding new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat bacterial infections, according to a recently released action plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/). The plan, developed by an intergovernmental task force headed by the National Institutes of Health, CDC, and Food and Drug Admi

For this article, Jennifer Fisher Wilson interviewed Richard A. Alm, principal research scientist, infection discovery at AstraZeneca R&D Boston. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age.   R.A. Alm, L.S. Ling, D.T. Moir, B.L. King, E.D. Brown, P.C. Doig, D.R. Smith, B. Noonan, B.C. Guild, B.L. deJonge, G. Carmel, P.J. Tummino, A. Caruso, M. Uria-Nickelsen, D.M. Mills, C.

For this article, Jennifer Fisher Wilson interviewed Guido Kroemer, Research Director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age.   S.A. Susin, H.K. Lorenzo, N. Zamzami, I. Marzo, B.E. Snow, G.M. Brothers, J. Mangion, E. Jacotot, P. Costantini, M. Loeffler, N. Larochette, D.R. Goodlett,

Same Enzyme Repairs DNA, Repels Pathogens An enzyme involved in genome defense has been shown to attack invading pathogens (W-M. Chu et al., "DNA-PKcs is required for activation of innate immunity by immunostimulatory DNA," Cell, 103:909-18, Dec. 8, 2000). Researchers already knew that DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) in the nucleus repairs DNA double-stranded breaks created by radiation, but the role of DNA-PK in the cytoplasm was unknown. Testing DNA immunostimulatory (ISS) sequences in

For this article, Jennifer Fisher Wilson interviewed Fred H. Gage, director of the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age. P.S. Eriksson, E. Perfilieva, T. Bjork-Eriksson, A.M. Alborn, C. Nordborg, D.A. Peterson, and F.H. Gage. "Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus," Nature Medicine, 4:1