Crowd Control

Paul Ehrlich came up with an explanation for cellular interactions based on receptors, earning a Nobel Prize and the title "Father of Modern Immunology"—only to have his theory forgotten.

Meet some of the people featured in the July 2013 issue of The Scientist.

Denial, Probably Approximately Correct, Permanent Present Tense, and Against Their Will

Women may be able to store viable sperm for longer than a week, thus contributing to apparent variability in pregnancy lengths.

Already a world leader in high-tech entrepreneurship, Israel is now flexing its biotech muscles.

Using RNA-seq to study nonmodel organisms

A guided tour through the metabolome

Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, University of Missouri. Age: 35

While tracing the tricky and sometimes surprising paths of multipotent cells in the skin, mammary gland, and heart, Cédric Blanpain has repeatedly turned the stem cell field on its head.
 

Deficiencies in a cellular motor that carries a serotonin receptor are associated with anxiety in mice.

A thermosensitive ion channel helps C. elegans live longer at cold temperatures.

To control their color displays, squid fine-tune the optical properties of light-reflecting cells by rapidly expelling and imbibing water across a tightly pleated membrane

Transfecting molecules into cells is as easy as one, two, squeeze.

Researchers and bioethicists need to take advantage of events such as the recent publication of the HeLa genome to engage the public on topics of privacy, biobank regulation, and more.

The scientific community and the impact of the Myriad Genetics Supreme Court decision

An adhesive inspired by a parasitic worm could help better affix skin grafts in burn patients.

In the era of Big Data, research projects that focus on phenomena that unfold across decades have distinct benefits—and some drawbacks.

A species of freshwater turtle deemed to be extinct may never have existed in the first place.

A forest ecologist comes down from the canopy to bring science to the masses, forming a series of improbable collaborations with prisoners.

July 2013's selection of notable quotes

A vacation from your lab doesn’t have to mean a break from fascinating developments on the life science front.

Molecules, cells, or vertebrates—when individuals move and act as a single unit, surprisingly complex behaviors arise that hint at the origins of multicellularity.