Recently Susan Kendall, who has a PhD in cell and molecular biology and a postdoc under her belt, wrote that library science is a "great career track that is begging for more people with science backgrounds." Kendall also has an MS in library and information science and is now a health sciences librarian at Michigan State University.For people interested in librarianship, a master's in library science is beneficial but not always necessary, says Linda Smith, professor and associate dean of the g

Like watchmakers, biologists have hunkered down over their respective model organisms, meticulously seeking out biological timekeepers, the genes important for regulating life's internal clock. Up until now, classical approaches had not uncovered the finest details of the machinery that synchronizes life processes with light and darkness, let alone how these rhythms affect behavior and metabolism. "[They] haven't identified genes other than the main components such as the central transcriptio

A.P. Gill, an IT professional working on clinical research-database analysis, wants to know about hot areas in scientific information consulting. Frank Mara, vice president of marketing for Ingenuity Systems, Mountain View, Calif., says companies are looking for consultation on experimental platforms, such as mass spectrometry and microarrays. People with knowledge about proteomics and high-throughput siRNA screening are in demand as well, says Mara, whose company provides databases and analy

File Photo Letters have been streaming in from readers with career questions, no doubt similar to some of yours. I've picked two: A seasoned research scientist wonders what to do if his company downsizes and he loses his job. Are there positions for which the researcher's skills would be relevant, or would he need retraining? "Not everyone in the world of biotech has state-of-the-art molecular biology skills," says recruiter and career counselor David Jensen, Search Masters, Sedona, Ariz.

File Photo How can I break into the biotech or pharmaceutical industry? That's a question many of my readers ask. Michael Ferguson, senior manager of clinical development for Memphis, Tenn.-based Medtronic Sofamor Danek, offers insights for people who wish to take the industry path. Two years into his PhD studies in applied physiology at the University of Florida, Ferguson decided he wanted to join a biotechnology company or a clinical setting. His first step was to work for a small firm dur

Courtesy of Keith Crutcher IMMUNITY IN MIND: Cultured microglial (N9) cells (red) on a tissue section containing an Alzheimer plaque (green). There is continuing controversy about whether these types of inflammatory cells are responding to plaques or causing them. A finger catches the sharp edge of an envelope; a noseful of tree pollen is accidentally inhaled; the latest virus finds host after human host. In all cases the assaulted body reacts through inflammation, a well known, but not

Chronobiologists, those who investigate circadian rhythms, or daily clocks, are finally making concrete links between sleep patterns in humans and a menagerie of well-studied animal models. 

Along the way, she bumps into an old friend and current colleague, a radiologist with whom she shared an early-morning physics class in her undergraduate days; he is now a nuclear science professor at the school. Reliving old times and casually discussing their disparate research, they settle in a nearby alcove, one of several "interaction spaces" that dot the architecture of the building. An off-hand remark by her friend implants

In a Nov. 7, 1994, letter, Marvin Cassman, acting director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), informed NIGMS grantees that the institute is "making special efforts" to fund applications that contain risky or unorthodox ideas or methods. Specifically, these would be applications that contain ideas that challenge current dogma; include experimental approaches that have inherent or unavoidable elements of ri

SIDEBAR: High Risk, High Payoff From the early days of research in molecular biology--the discovery of restriction enzymes, which paved the way for recombinant technology, for example--to pharmacologist Alfred G. Gilman's 1994 Nobel Prize-winning investigations of G proteins, scientists funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) have been advancing the life sciences. In fact, more than half of the National

Along the way, she bumps into an old friend and current colleague, a radiologist with whom she shared an early-morning physics class in her undergraduate days; he is now a nuclear science professor at the school. Reliving old times and casually discussing their disparate research, they settle in a nearby alcove, one of several "interaction spaces" that dot the architecture of the building. An off-hand remark by her friend implants

In a Nov. 7, 1994, letter, Marvin Cassman, acting director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), informed NIGMS grantees that the institute is "making special efforts" to fund applications that contain risky or unorthodox ideas or methods. Specifically, these would be applications that contain ideas that challenge current dogma; include experimental approaches that have inherent or unavoidable elements of ri

SIDEBAR: High Risk, High Payoff From the early days of research in molecular biology--the discovery of restriction enzymes, which paved the way for recombinant technology, for example--to pharmacologist Alfred G. Gilman's 1994 Nobel Prize-winning investigations of G proteins, scientists funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) have been advancing the life sciences. In fact, more than half of the National

Bassam Shakhashiri, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was assistant director for science and engineering education at the National Science Foundation from 1984 to 1990, contends that industry involvement in this effort is more than a welcome contribution; it is a necessity. "The business community must be involved intimately in the science education reform arena because they have expertise that ac

Bassam Shakhashiri, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was assistant director for science and engineering education at the National Science Foundation from 1984 to 1990, contends that industry involvement in this effort is more than a welcome contribution; it is a necessity. "The business community must be involved intimately in the science education reform arena because they have expertise that ac