Cover Story
Lurking in the Shadows
Bob Grant | Dec 1, 2014 | 10+ min read
Bats harbor diverse pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS, and MERS viruses. Understanding why could help researchers stymie deadly emerging diseases.
Features
A Race Against Extinction
A. Marmaduke Kilpatrick | Dec 1, 2014 | 10+ min read
Bat populations ravaged; hundreds of amphibian species driven to extinction; diverse groups of birds threatened. Taking risks will be necessary to control deadly wildlife pathogens.
Top 10 Innovations 2014
The Scientist | Dec 1, 2014 | 10+ min read
The list of the year’s best new products contains both perennial winners and innovative newcomers.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the December 2014 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial
Bad Raps
Bad Raps
Understanding animal diseases—for their sake and for ours
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
December 2014's selection of notable quotes
Notebook
Along Came a Spider
Along Came a Spider
Researchers are turning to venom peptides to protect crops from their most devastating pests.
Homo Minutus
Homo Minutus
A miniature platform with multiple organ-on-a-chip constructs aims to speed up drug discovery—and create better transplants for patients.
Microflora for Hire
Microflora for Hire
The guts of cows and termites harbor microbes that are renowned complex-carbohydrate digesters, but the human gastrointestinal tract has flora that just might measure up.
A New Breed
A New Breed
Genomics and advanced reproductive technologies have turned cattle breeding into a whole new animal.
Critic at Large
Loaded Words
Loaded Words
As new technologies emerge, we must choose our words for them with care: names can negatively bias the inevitable debates over the ethics of scientific advances.
Incentivizing Breakthroughs
Incentivizing Breakthroughs
With scientific funding on shaky ground, big-dollar competitions offer a new way for life-science innovators to bring their ideas to fruition.
Modus Operandi
Bespoke Cell Jackets
Bespoke Cell Jackets
Scientists make hydrogel coats for individual cells that can be tailored to specific research questions.
The Literature
Cadherin Connection
Cadherin Connection
A multitasking plasma membrane protein coordinates cell division and energy metabolism in healthy—and perhaps also cancerous—Drosophila cells.
Polymerase Pieces
Polymerase Pieces
Researchers discover a new subunit of a bacterial RNA polymerase—as well as hints of its potential role in defending against viruses.
Nuclear Pore QA
Nuclear Pore QA
A known membrane-remodeling complex earns a newly identified role as a quality-assurance director during the assembly of nuclear pores.
Profile
All Systems Go
All Systems Go
Alan Aderem earned his PhD while under house arrest for protesting apartheid in South Africa. His early political involvement has guided his scientific focus, encouraging fellow systems biologists to study immunology and infectious diseases.
Scientist to Watch
Viviana Gradinaru: Clearing the Way
Viviana Gradinaru: Clearing the Way
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Caltech. Age: 33
Lab Tools
Cutting the Wire
Cutting the Wire
Optical techniques for monitoring action potentials
Sorting Made Simpler
Sorting Made Simpler
A guide to affordable, compact fluorescence-activated cell sorters
Special Section
Validating Antibodies: An Urgent Need
Validating Antibodies: An Urgent Need
Highlights from a webinar held by The Scientist to discuss the role of antibody validation and cataloging in improving data reproducibility
Bio Business
Cannabis Biotech
Cannabis Biotech
As medical marijuana businesses set up shop across the U.S., a handful of companies are taking the pharmaceutical route, guiding cannabis-derived drugs through clinical trials.
Reading Frames
The Cellular Revolution
The Cellular Revolution
Early life-forms started engaging in planet-altering biological innovation more than a half billion years ago.
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Your Atomic Self, Eureka!, A Talent for Friendship, and Undeniable
Foundations
A Cellar’s Cellular Treasure, 1992
A Cellar’s Cellular Treasure, 1992
A spring cleaning led to the rediscovery of Theodor Boveri’s microscope slides, presumed lost during World War II.