Magazine Issue - March 2019 | Going Under

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March 2019

Features

Are We Headed for a New Era of Malaria Drug Resistance?

Natalie Slivinski | Mar 1, 2019

Plasmodium falciparum has shown an ability to evade everything we throw at it, most recently artemisinin-based combination therapies, today’s front-line treatment.

Can the Flu and Other Viruses Cause Neurodegeneration?

Ashley Yeager | Mar 1, 2019

Scientists may need to seriously reconsider the cast-aside hypothesis that pathogens can play a part in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

General Anesthesia Causes Telltale Brain Activity Patterns

Emery N. Brown, Francisco J. Flores | Mar 1, 2019

The drugs lead to widespread, predictable changes in brain waves that can help anesthesiologists personalize anesthesia and develop anesthetic-based treatments.

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the March 2019 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Drugs, Developed

In an era of instant communication, we must be careful how word of new and untested treatments is shared.

Speaking of Science

Ten-Minute Sabbatical

Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.

Notebook

Prehistoric Microbes Inhabit an Oasis in the Northern Mexican Desert

The blue lagoons of the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin provide a glimpse into the planet’s ancient past.

GPS-Tagged Seabirds Track the Tides

Birds drifting on the surface of the sea could provide valuable data for oceanographers.

Classic Mechanism of Epigenetic Inheritance Is Rare, Not the Rule

A study suggests that the direct transfer of DNA methylation marks from one generation to the next is much less common than scientists previously thought.

Humans Made Tools Atop the Tibetan Plateau More than 30,000 Years Ago

A finding pushes back the timeline on humankind’s conquest of one of Earth’s harshest environments, and may provide clues about interactions with their hominin relatives.

Critic at Large

Opinion: Individuals Are Greater Than the Sum of Their Parts

The study of evolution requires consideration of organisms’ microbiomes.

Modus Operandi

Stick-On Immune Cell Monitor

A microneedle-containing skin patch offers researchers a noninvasive way to survey immune responses in mice.

The Literature

Without This Enzyme, Insertions Thrive in the Yeast Genome

A study underscores the importance of Dna2 in maintaining the integrity of the genetic code.

Archaea CRISPR Systems Grab DNA Memories During Interspecies Mating

When different archaeal species mate, their CRISPR systems interact in ways that may influence their evolution.

Primordial RNA May Have Contained Inosine

The discovery that the adenosine derivative aids self-replication adds weight to the theory that life on Earth originated from a mixture of RNA molecules.

Profile

Master Decoder: A Profile of Kári Stefánsson

A neurologist by training, Stefánsson founded Iceland-based deCODE Genetics to explore what the human genome can tell us about disease and our species’ evolution.

Scientist to Watch

Emily Derbyshire Looks for Malaria’s Vulnerabilities

The Duke University professor studies the parasite to find a way to thwart infection before it takes hold.

Lab Tools

The Challenge of Using CRISPR to Knock In Genes

Researchers are developing an array of techniques for accurately and efficiently inserting genes into DNA.

Careers

Is Mandatory Retirement the Answer to an Aging Workforce?

For many, it’s not a question of when senior academics should leave their posts, it’s about how to distribute scarce resources such as grants and faculty positions more fairly.