1. T.J. Shors et al., "Neurogenesis in the adult is involved in the formation of trace memories," Nature, 410:372-5, March 2001. For this article, Leslie Pray interviewed Tracey Shors, behavioral neuroscientist and associate professor in the psychology department at Rutgers University. 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. E. Gould, A. Beylin, P. Tanapat, A. Reeves, T.J. Shors,

Sifting through the 3 billion letters of DNA that comprise the human genome to find disease-associated sequences is at best a daunting task. But recent evidence suggests that this genome is organized into highly structured blocks called haplotypes, highly conserved packages that contain SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and exhibit very little genotypic variation. Enlisting these haplotypes in the search may make this undertaking easier than previously thought. Evidence of such organizati

Last year, scientists described how partial reproductive isolation between two sockeye salmon populations had evolved at the astonishingly rapid rate of about 13 generations. This was stunning to many biologists, who think of reproductive isolation as a process that evolves over tens of thousands, or even millions of years, but certainly not decades.1 Researchers led by Andrew Hendry, a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, used microsatellite markers and morphologi

Last year, scientists discovered a unique, energy-generating, light-absorbing protein previously unknown to exist in oceanic life. They named the protein proteorhodopsin.1 The bacteria that harbor it are a distinct phylogenetic group known as SAR86. This year, scientists learned that as much as 10 percent of the ocean's surface is occupied by these proteorhodopsin-containing bacteria--as many as 1x105 cells per milliliter of sea water.2 The researchers, led by marine microbiologist Edward DeLo

It may not have eyes, but the saltwater Natronobacterium pharaonis has a primitive form of vision that uses blue-light-absorbing sensory rhodopsin II proteins (SRII) embedded in its membrane bilayer. When activated, SRII sends signals that are "translated into flagellar motion," says Harmut "Hudel" Luecke, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, University of California, Irvine. SRII's signaling enables bacteria to swim away from harsh sunlit areas where blue light would otherwise cause

For this article, Leslie Pray interviewed Hartmut "Hudel" Luecke, professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, University of California, Irvine. 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. H. Luecke B. Schobert, H.T. Richter, J.P. Cartailler, J.K. Lanyi, "Structure of bacteriorhodopsin at 1.55 Å resolution," Journal of Molecular Biology, 291[4]:899-911, 1999. (Cited in 105

For this article, Leslie Pray interviewed Isa Mushahwar, consultant and retired distinguished research fellow and director of the Virus Discovery Group, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Ill. 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. I.K. Mushahwar et al. J.C. Erker, A.S. Muerhoff, T.P Leary, J.N. Simons, L.G. Birkenmeyer, M.L. Chalmers, T.J. Pilot-Matias, S.M. Dexai, "Molecular

The Bcl-2 protein family members Bax and Bak play an important role in regulating apoptosis.1,2 But following their discovery in the 1990s, they did not take center stage because researchers didn't anticipate their role as "critical effectors of programmed cell death," says Craig Thompson, scientific director of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. But the limelight is now upon them as Thompson and his colleagues at the Abramson Institute, in collabora

For this article, Leslie Pray interviewed Chu-Xia Deng, senior investigator, Genetics of Development and Disease Branch of the National Institutes of Health. 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. X.L. Xu, Z. Weaver, S.P. Linke, C.L. Li, J. Gotay, X.W. Wang, C.C. Harris, T. Ried, C.X. Deng, "Centrosome amplification and a defective G(2)-M cell cycle checkpoint induce genetic inst

For this article, Leslie Pray interviewed William C. Hahn, postdoctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., and an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 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. W.C. Hahn, C.M. Counter, A.S. Lundberg, R.L. Beijersbergen, M.W. Brooks, R.A. Weinberg, "Creation of human tumour cells with de