DNA Erector Sets

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

New starring roles for nucleic acids

The NIH budget, the nature of science, paternal age, and more

Did behaviors that seem ingrained become fixed through epigenetic mechanisms and ancestral learning?

New methods could propel investigation of neural “PGO” wave patterns that may underlie critical aspects of visual experience, dreaming, and even psychosis.

Scientists bring marine plankton back to life to study past climate change.

Scientists examine floating traces of DNA left by fish to better understand New York’s aquatic life.

The domination of model organisms and charismatic megafauna in the literature is a disservice to the life sciences.

Two research teams develop tools for tinkering with a bacterial genus prominent in human guts.

The memory of a temperature spike can persist for as many as 14 generations in C. elegans.

The presence of similar light-emitting enzymes in the distantly related organisms lends new insight into bioluminescence evolution.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, scientists characterize new populations of dendritic cells and monocytes.

Jane Lubchenco has embraced many roles: marine ecologist, science communicator, federal agency administrator, and sustainable fishing advocate.

At Harvard University the chemical biologist looks for new metabolic pathways to investigate how gut bacteria interact with one another and their hosts.

New tools for investigating how physical forces affect cells

How to tell reputable journals from shady ones

Phage therapy is but one example of using biological entities to reduce our reliance on antibiotics and other failing chemical solutions.

Activists demanded greater access to and involvement in clinical research for AIDS treatments—and their protests were heard.