Features
The Literature

Give Me a Hug
Editor's choice in cell biology

Forced Feeding
Editor's choice in drug development

Immune Heat
Editor's choice in immunology
Contributors

Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the February 2012 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial

On the Menu
Digestion on the cellular level: two mysteries examined
Reading Frames

Killing with Kindness
Studying the evolution of altruistic behaviors reveals how knee-jerk good intentions can backfire.
Capsule Reviews

Capsule Reviews
Neurogastronomy, Why Calories Count, The Kitchen as Laboratory, Fear of Food
Modus Operandi

Switching the Bait
Turning a standard technique into an unbiased screen for diagnostic biomarkers
Careers

Female Frontrunners
How to successfully surmount the challenges women face in becoming biotech industry leaders
Critic at Large

Learning by Doing
Having freshmen perform research doesn’t just improve undergraduate learning, it convinces more students to become science majors.

Never Say Never
Novel observations can sometimes be correct for unexpected reasons.
Slideshows

Cyan Wonders
In 1842, Anna Atkins, a 43-year-old amateur botanist from Kent, England, began experimenting with a brand-new photographic process called cyanotype or blue-print.

The View From Above
Satellite imagery is giving biologists a whole new perspective on the phenomena they study.
Infographics

Calcium and the Pancreas
Normal pancreatic function depends on the precise flow of calcium within and into the acinar cells of the organ.

How Autophagy Works
There are five steps of autophagosome biogenesis: induction, expansion, vesicle completion, fusion, and cargo degradation.
Lab Tools

Little Squirts
A road map to liquid-handling solutions on the market
Notebook

Sweet and Sour Science
Japanese researchers unravel the mystery of miracle fruit.

Science Afield
Portable wet-lab kits allow even soldiers stationed in war zones to earn college science credits.

Reading Tea Leaves
Cyclic peptides, discovered in an African tea used to speed labor and delivery, may hold potential as drug-stabilizing scaffolds, antibiotics, and anticancer drugs.

Genghis Jon
By helping Mongolians cultivate an understanding of their native insect fauna, scientists hope to protect the country's unique yet fragile ecosystems.
Videos

Swarming Mongolia
For the past decade and a half, a crew of about 20 entomologists, water ecologists, and other specialists converges on the shorelines of Mongolia’s lakes, rivers, and streams, just when swarms of aquatic insects do the same.
Scientist to Watch

Rommie Amaro: Protein Explorer
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California, San Diego. Age: 34
Foundations

Botanical Blueprints, circa 1843
Anna Atkins, pioneering female photographer, revolutionized scientific illustration using a newly invented photographic technique.
Speaking of Science

Speaking of Science
February 2012's selection of notable quotes
Thought Experiment

Ready for Prime Time
Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease are ready for widespread use in clinical trials.