Found in Translation

Cover Story

Noncoding RNAs Not So Noncoding

Ruth Williams | Jun 1, 2016

Bits of the transcriptome once believed to function as RNA molecules are in fact translated into small proteins.

Features

Toward Targeted Therapies for Autoimmune Disorders

Lawrence Steinman | Jun 1, 2016

Training the immune system to cease fire on native tissues could improve outcomes for autoimmune patients, but clinical progress has been slow.

Synthetic Biology Comes into Its Own

Richard A. Muscat | Jun 1, 2016

Researchers create novel genetic circuits that give insight into, and are inspired by, nature.

Contributors

Contributors

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the June 2016 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Research at Micro- and Nanoscales

Research at Micro- and Nanoscales

From whole cells to genes, closer examination continues to surprise.
 

Speaking of Science

Notable Science Quotes

Notable Science Quotes

14-day-old embryos, prioritizing biodiversity, and more

Notebook

Zebra Finches Aid Neurodegeneration Research

Zebra Finches Aid Neurodegeneration Research

Bird brains might tell us a lot about how human brains malfunction in diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Students Study Their Own Microbiomes

Students Study Their Own Microbiomes

Pooping into a petri dish is becoming standard practice as part of some college biology courses.

Saving Reefs One Polyp at a Time

Saving Reefs One Polyp at a Time

Researchers have discovered how to study coral organisms in unprecedented detail by mounting them in specially designed microscope slides.

Meet An Artist With No Hands

Meet An Artist With No Hands

The brain can compensate for missing body parts, allowing some people, such as Matthias Buchinger, to function at a very high level despite their disabilities.

Modus Operandi

Gut Bacteria for Insect RNAi

Gut Bacteria for Insect RNAi

Lacing insect food with microbes encoding double-stranded RNAs can suppress insect gene expression.

The Literature

In Failing Hearts, Cardiomyocytes Alter Metabolism

In Failing Hearts, Cardiomyocytes Alter Metabolism

While the heart cells normally burn fatty acids, when things go wrong ketones become the preferred fuel source.

Questions Over C. elegans Life Span Factors

Questions Over C. elegans Life Span Factors

A recent paper challenges earlier findings that germline factors expressed in normal body cells influence life span in C. elegans.

Generating Cardiac Precursor Cells

Generating Cardiac Precursor Cells

Researchers derive cardiac precursors to form cardiac muscle, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells in mice.

Profile

Carolyn Bertozzi: Glycan Chemist

Carolyn Bertozzi: Glycan Chemist

Bertozzi opens visual windows onto complex sugars on and inside living cells.

Scientist to Watch

Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti: Immersed in Immunology

Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti: Immersed in Immunology

Member, Department of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Age: 43

Lab Tools

Making Micromotors Biocompatible

Making Micromotors Biocompatible

Researchers are developing potent ways to fuel and control the movement of micromotor devices.

Enhancing Vaccine Development

Enhancing Vaccine Development

Using proteomics methods to inform antigen selection

Screening with CRISPR

Screening with CRISPR

Ever-improving CRISPR-based tools are already ripe for large-scale genetic screens.

Bio Business

Do Patents Promote or Stall Innovation?

Do Patents Promote or Stall Innovation?

A petition recently filed with the Supreme Court triggers renewed debate about the role of patents in the diagnostics sector.

Reading Frames

Start Making Sense

Start Making Sense

Scientific progress is only achieved when humans' innate sense of understanding is validated by objective reality.

Capsule Reviews

Hot Off the Presses

Hot Off the Presses

Beyond Biocentrism, The Sting of the Wild, The Birth of Anthropocene, and Ordinarily Well

Foundations

The Rabies Vaccine Backstory

The Rabies Vaccine Backstory

Louis Pasteur’s trepidation at injecting a child with the first rabies vaccine might have reflected his private knowledge of its lack of prior animal testing.