On the Up Ontario has always been known for its groundbreaking science—now get ready for its biotech. By Kirsten Weir Ontarians are proud of their scientific history. As all Canadian schoolchildren learn, Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in Toronto in 1921. Forty years later, Ontario Cancer Center researchers James Till and Ernest McCulloch proved the existence of stem cells. The first commercial vaccine for childhood men

Life on MaRS Historically, Toronto has been a rich source of basic research that it has struggled to commercialize. That’s about to change. By Kirsten Weir The MaRS "heritage building" was once the Toronto General Hospital's College Wing © 2005 Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc. During a break from the busy BIO conference in 2000, physician and entrepreneur Calvin Stiller decided to take a walk through Boston with John Evans, a physic

Bio-Prodigy Shana Kelley is launching her second company with a device that could change the way medicine is practiced and she's not even 40. By Kirsten Weir Imagine a handheld device that could test patients for disease in minutes, letting doctors know—without a biopsy or lengthy waiting period—which patients were infected with a dangerous strain of bacteria or aggressive form of cancer. For Shana Kelley, that’s the plan. Kell

By Kirsten Weir No kissing here White spruce with “witches’ brooms,” a tell-tale sign of mistletoe infection. Courtesy of Jaret Reblin For the white spruce tree (Picea glauca), mistletoe is the kiss of death. When Barry Logan, an associate professor of biology at Bowdoin College, began studying the interaction between white spruce and the parasitic eastern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum) 10 years ago, he f

By Kirsten Weir The Great Haddock Revival In the near-empty seas, one species has surged back to life. Can the others follow? Photography by Alexandra Daley-Clark filmy, pink dawn has just slipped above the horizon as the F/V Stormy Weather arrives at the fishing grounds. After a two-hour cruise from port in Hampton Beach, NH, the vessel has reached the southwest corner of Jeffrey's Ledge, a winding offshore glacial

Used polyethylene knee bearings Credit: Courtesy of Dartmouth Biomedical Engineering Center for Orthopaedics (DBEC)." />Used polyethylene knee bearings Credit: Courtesy of Dartmouth Biomedical Engineering Center for Orthopaedics (DBEC). Inside a bright, freshly remodeled basement lab at Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering, John Collier slides a small white rectangle of polyethylene plastic toward me. He and I, along with his colleague Michael Mayor, are sitting at a la

First-Timers By Kirsten Weir Related Articles Best Places to Work in Academia, 2007 Easy livin' at Dalhousie Massachusetts General Hospital: View from the top Purdue pushes forward Survey Methodology Ranking Tables Top 15 US Academic Institutions Top 10 International Academic Institutions Top 40 US Academic Institutions Best Countries for Academic Research Best Places to Work: Survey Findings PDF

View from the top By Kirsten Weir Related Articles Best Places to Work in Academia, 2007 Easy livin' at Dalhousie First-Timers Purdue pushes forward Survey Methodology Ranking Tables Top 15 US Academic Institutions Top 10 International Academic Institutions Top 40 US Academic Institutions Best Countries for Academic Research Best Places to Work: Survey Findings PDF What makes Massachusetts Gene

For biologist Jim Gelsleichter, a good day at work is one when he hooks enough bull sharks that his arms are covered in "shark burns" - rashes caused by rubbing elbows, so to speak, with the feisty rough-skinned fish. Fortunately, he and his team are catching juveniles, typically just a few weeks old, and around two feet in length. While one researcher holds down the squirming baby, another can safely collect 5mL of blood and insert a small nylon dart tag in the base of the dorsal fi

Royal Society medal winner was a leader in mammalian development research

Scientists debate whether the decision, which makes a 12-year-old moratorium permanent, will affect biomedical research

The oral biologist was an early expert on digestive enzymes

Medicinal leeches aren't one species, but three, a finding that may affect hundreds of scientific papers

The Art of Adapting to MS By Kirsten Weir © Matthew Robbins Maggie McPhersun stands in front of a canvas that she painted, a whimsical print of swirling lines and bright colors. Completing it, she says, was "incredibly painful emotionally." McPhersun, 51, is a registered nurse from Brunswick, Maine. She's also an artist, and she once took commissions, painting intricate portraits - before multiple scle

More Than Skin Deep By Kirsten Weir Courtesy of Scott Steele Scott Steele, the 32-year-old managing director of the Classical Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon, still remembers a trip to a hair salon as a teenager. The hairdresser took one look at the psoriasis outbreak on his scalp and forehead and actually backed away. Even after Steele explained that it wasn't contagious, the woman refused to cu