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Features
Taking Shape
Wallace F. Marshall | Dec 1, 2013 | 10+ min read
The causes of a cell’s three-dimensional structure remain a fundamental mystery of cell biology.
One Man's Trash...
Kerry Grens | Dec 1, 2013 | 10+ min read
Scientists who dared to waste their time looking at the midbody, a remnant of cell division, have catapulted the organelle to new prominence.
Top 10 Innovations 2013
The Scientist Staff | Dec 1, 2013 | 10+ min read
The Scientist’s annual competition uncovered a bonanza of interesting technologies that made their way onto the market and into labs this year.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the December 2013 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial
Organelle Architecture
Organelle Architecture
There’s beauty in a cell’s marriage of structure and function.
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
December 2013's selection of notable quotes
Notebook
Waiting in the Wings
Waiting in the Wings
A century’s worth of collected butterflies shed light on how climate change threatens the survival of early-emerging species.
Metropolome
Metropolome
Researchers take advantage of rapid and cheap DNA sequencing technologies to map the bacterial microbiome of New York City.
Little Drummer Bugs
Little Drummer Bugs
South African termites can relay vibrational alarm signals through their enormous nests by pounding their heads against the ground.
Disorder No More
Disorder No More
Researchers hunt for biomarkers of Asperger's syndrome, a condition that officially no longer exists.
Critic at Large
The Great Divide
The Great Divide
A two-way bridge between science and policy is desperately needed.
An Open Invitation
An Open Invitation
On creating communal, equitable discourse to broaden participation in genetics research
Modus Operandi
Proto-Organelles for Synthetic Cells
Proto-Organelles for Synthetic Cells
Researchers construct lipid-encapsulated compartments within synthetic cells.
The Literature
Patchy Plankton
Patchy Plankton
Turbulence interacts with the stabilizing efforts of motile phytoplankton to create small-scale patches of toxic, bloom-forming organisms.
Herring Impaired
Herring Impaired
Changing ion channel densities allows fish to tune their hearing to male reproductive calls during breeding periods.
Intracellular Spirals
Intracellular Spirals
Membrane twists connect stacked endoplasmic reticulum sheets.
Profile
Biology's Coefficient
Biology's Coefficient
Joel Cohen uses the tools of mathematics to deconstruct questions of life.
Scientist to Watch
Karmella Haynes: Turning the Dials
Karmella Haynes: Turning the Dials
Assistant Professor, Arizona State University. Age: 36
Lab Tools
Out, Damned Mycoplasma!
Out, Damned Mycoplasma!
Pointers for keeping your cell cultures free of mycoplasma contamination
Special Section
PCR: Past, Present, & Future
PCR: Past, Present, & Future
Highlights from a webinar held by The Scientist to celebrate 30 years of PCR: the technique's invention, quantitative real-time PCR, and digital PCR
Careers
Weathering the Storm
Weathering the Storm
How to prepare your lab for natural disasters and cope with unavoidable consequences
Reading Frames
Standing Up for Sex
Standing Up for Sex
Humans evolved the ability to walk on two legs because it allowed them to more accurately size up prospective mates. Or did they?
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Tigers Forever, High Moon Over the Amazon, Earth from Space, and Medicine's Michelangelo
Foundations
Harrowing Egg Hunt, 1911
Harrowing Egg Hunt, 1911
Three members of Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Antarctic expedition team trudged 225 kilometers in the dead of winter to retrieve emperor penguin eggs in an effort to establish an evolutionary link between birds and reptiles.