The unveiling of the DNA sequences of human chromosomes represents a new chapter in the unfolding story of genomics, but one with roots in the half-century-old field of cytogenetics. Chromosome-level looks can reveal the specific genes behind certain traits and disorders while providing information on genome organization. The diminutive chromosome 21--the smallest of the human contingent, despite its number as next to last--is the fourth to be described. Its debut in mid-May attracted attentio

Microcolumns Collapse in Alzheimer's Brain Tangles and plaques are hallmarks of the Alzheimer's brain. Thanks to a technique borrowed from statistical physics, researchers from Boston University, the University of Minnesota, and Bar-Ilan University in Israel have quantified another sign: microcolumns of 11 neurons that are noticeably diminished in the Alzheimer's brain, and less so in the related condition Lewy body dementia. Using brains from a brain bank, the researchers probed a part of the

Graphic: Cathleen Heard The pharmaceutical industry instantly took note when the federal government granted U.S. patent number 6,048,850 to the University of Rochester on April 11, 2000. The patent for "Method of inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis in a human host," described as "broad," "dominant," and "blocking" in the lexicon of the patent attorney, had a distinct everything-but-the-kitchen sink flavor about it. The patent covers inhibitors of the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) that include n

Introducing RNA Polymerase The long-sought crystal structure of RNA polymerase II, aka PolII, reveals a complex and tenacious machine. As the linchpin in gene expression, that machine "is arguably the most important protein in biology," says Roger Kornberg, professor of structural biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, who led the two-decade-long effort (P. Cramer et al., "Architecture of RNA polymerase II and implications for the transcription mechanism," Science, 288:640-9, April

Two decades ago, I sat at Herman J. Muller's desk at Indiana University, pushing flies as he once did. Looking back in light of the recent unveiling of the Drosophila melanogaster genome sequence,1 I realize that I was struggling in the Dark Ages of genetics, when we worked by inference rather than scanning databases of A,T, C, and G. If I labored in the Dark Ages, then Thomas Kaufman, my mentor, received his training in the Stone Age; Muller was positively Precambrian. Back in the 1970s,

Graphic: Cathleen Heard When the days grew short enough by last November to finally send mosquitoes away from the backyards and parks of New York City, residents and public health officials alike breathed a collective sigh of relief. Mosquitoes has brought West Nile virus encephalitis, sickening 62 and killing seven. Lingering worst-case scenarios envisioned virus-ridden mosquitoes overwintering in the subways, emerging come springtime to spread disease again. As those outside the Apple joked ab

A Declaration Supporting Ag Biotech With the recent announcement that major grain companies in the United States will indeed purchase genetically modified (GM) crops despite the proliferation of silly humans dressed as Monarch butterflies in the United Kingdom and here, it seems as if the public debate over GM foods may finally consider scientific reasoning. To bolster consumer confidence that GM tomatoes are not likely to make them grow second heads, 1,800-plus scientists, including many noted

Fly Model of Parkinson's Disease With genome projects finishing at an ever quickening pace, many new animal models of human disease are being developed. A very promising one is a Drosophila version of Parkinson's disease (M.B. Feany and W.B. Bender, "A Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease," Nature, 404:394-8, March 23, 2000). At Harvard Medical School, Mel Feany, an instructor in pathology, and Welcome Bender, a professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology, created flies trans

President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's brief statement of March 14 supporting free access to human genome information unleashed a slew of clichés, including "too little too late" and "water under the bridge." But initial misinterpretation of the statement led to a temporary slide in biotech stocks. By the end of the day, Celera Genomics Corp. of Rockville, Md., had dropped 19 percent, while Incyte Pharmaceuticals of Palo Alto, Calif., plummeted 27 percent. Even thoug

Image courtesy of Stefan Eberhard, CCRLPhotomicrograph of glucose Carbohydrates are the forgotten cousin of biopolymers. Peruse a standard cell biology text, and they are typically relegated to a few pages in contrast to the nucleic acids and proteins that often make up the bulk of a chapter, or enjoy chapters of their own. The reason for the paucity of carbo coverage in texts is simply that we know less about them than about the other types of macromolecules, says Alan Darvill, director of the

Photo: E.D. Laywell, UT MemphisMultipotent clones of cells derived from the adult human brain With the promises and challenges of stem cell research in the headlines, visions of artificial livers dance in the public's eye. Bioethicists, politicians, and citizens alike continue to debate whether public funds should be used to obtain cells from human embryos and fetuses. On the scientific front, however, the implications of stem cell research are even more profound than offering replacement parts.

When Science voted stem cell research its 1999 Breakthrough of the Year, the congratulatory article traced the field's origin to the 1981 successful culture of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells.1,2 But the roots of exploring these multipotential cells go back considerably farther, to a little-mentioned researcher who worked with mice at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Photo: Jackson LaboratoryLeroy Stevens Leroy Stevens arrived at the lab in 1953, a newly minted developmental b