Humans and sea snails have a lot in common when it comes to learning and memory. Indeed, neuroscientists have found that little has changed at a cellular level since we departed evolutionarily from these mollusks. And this is just one of the recent findings that has brought neuroscientists to the edge of translating the molecular biology of nerve cells into an understanding of how humans first obtain and then retain information, sound, and images throughout the 70, 80, or even 100 years of a li

Scientists studying the genetic switches that turn cancer on and off are producing some of the most widely cited papers in medical research today. In a January report, the Philadelphia-based Institute for Scientific Information found that six of the 10 most cited papers in medicine in 1991 examined oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Researchers in this burgeoning field are excited because the recent advances in oncogene studies--such as identification of tumor suppressor genes and the potent

The process of translating an idea into a tangible invention may seem daunting at first. Budding inventors, however, can draw on a host of resources for information and support. Here are just a few: American Intellectual Property Law Association 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway Suite 203 Arlington, Va. 22202 (703) 415-0780 This organization can provide assistance with patent, trademark, copyright, intellectual property, technology transfer, invention, and innovation. It offers a book and suppleme

Great ideas for a new technology or innovation excitedly scribbled on the backs of envelopes or on cocktail napkins may have lots of potential. But that promise will never be realized unless the ideas are transformed from scribbles to effective prose that can convince investors, technology licensing officials, or patent attorneys of their value. Why bother? These lean economic times may seem like the worst time to start trying to sell ideas--especially to investors. Not so, says Len Vernamont

A picture may not be worth a thousand words to a scientist unless it can be manipulated to yield useful information. One way of gleaning such data is computerized image processing, a technique for quantifying visual images. With an image-process- ing system, a geologist can build contour maps from satellite photos, a plant physiologist can count and measure individual cells in a leaf, and a molecular biologist can analyze an autoradiograph from a DNA sequencing gel. In the past decade, the com

Every autumn for the past 22 years, a group has gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss efforts toward helping the deaf to hear, the paralyzed to walk, and the blind to see. No, they aren't an assembly of televangelists. Rather, they are a group of scientists trying to implant machines into humans to compensate for a variety of disabilities of the nervous system. These congregants from more than 20 disciplines--including materials scientists, neurologists, histopathologists, electrochemists

Beakers and bottles, dispensers and droppers, pipettes and petri dishes. Labware such as this used to be available in a single material--glass. A glass beaker may last indefinitely, so long as it isn't dropped or heated too fast or filled with certain highly reactive chemicals. But what if a chemist needs to boil some chemical brew? Enter Pyrex, a borosilicate glass that can be taken from hot to cold extremes without breaking. And what about the researcher who needs hundreds of small vials, a

A.L. Harrelson, C.S. Goodman, "Growth cone guidance in insects: fasciclin II is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily," Science, 242:700-8, 1988. N.H. Patel, E. Martin-Blanco, K.G. Coleman, S.J. Poole, M.C. Ellis, T.B. Kornberg, C.S. Goodman, "Expression of engrailed proteins in arthropods, annelids, and chordates," Cell, 58:955-68, 1989. P.M. Snow, A.J. Bieber, C.S. Goodman, "Fasciclin II: a novel homophilic adhesion molecule in Drosophila," Cell, 59:313-23, 1989. A.J. Bieber, P.M. Sn

It's odd to find a biochemist holding a high-ranking management position in the materials sciences division of a major national laboratory. And the team that Mark Alper has assembled at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.--consisting of organic chemists, enzymologists, chemical engineers, and even a journal editor--may seem even stranger. But in the four years since Alper founded the Enzymatic Synthesis of Materials Program at the Berkeley lab, this eclectic collection of investiga

Neuroscientists are entering the federally designated "Decade of the Brain" armed with a toolbox bulging with new instruments and techniques. Many have been borrowed from other disciplines; others have been specifically designed to probe the secrets of the nervous system. The variety of tools available reflects the diversity of the researchers who consider themselves neuroscientists. "Neuroscience represents a fusion of several scientific disciplines--biophysics, biochemistry, physiology, anat

The fence between industry and academia seems like a precarious place to sit. But a team of California scientists makes the balancing act look easy. Their perch on that fence has been the perfect place for cranking out highly cited research, including four “Hot Papers” identified by The Scientist in the past year (May I, 1989, page 12). The laboratories of immunologists Robert Coffman and Tim Mosmann are side by side on the secondfloor of DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto. Se

In 1914, an ambitious trans-antarctic expedition was organized by scientist/explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton. But during the middle of winter, his ship, the Endurance, was caught and crushed in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea. It wasn’t until 1988 that another ship ventured into that part of the ocean during the antarctic winter, this time with the goal of studying the delicate and complex food web of the region’s ice-edge zone, where the frozen and open ocean meet. Thoughts of Sh