January 2005

In your Dec. 20 issue, Jack Lucentini tars all gene association studies with the same brush.1 He correctly points out that comparing mutation frequencies between populations may lead to inconsistent results; the limitations and pitfalls of this approach have been thoroughly documented in numerous scientific papers.Fortunately, there is an alternative, reliable approach. The index-test method (ITM) determines whether mutations in a specific gene predispose to a disease, relying only on simple inc

brought to mind a question that, as a dog lover, I have wondered about: Do dogs have any kind of sense of the future?

RNA interference (RNAi) is fast becoming an essential tool for academic and industrial labs searching for genes that promote or inhibit cancer.

With inquisitive minds and tools as simple as a Waring blender, the work of early phage researchers such as Max Delbruck, Seymour Benzer, and Alfred Hershey generated much of the knowledge underlying contemporary molecular biology.

As a culture, we have difficulty letting go of the outdated notion that memory is a reliable tape recorder.

In the postgenomic era, there are the haves and the have-nots.

none of which is conducive to relaxation.

As yesterday's genomics breakthroughs become today's common laboratory techniques, the cutting edge of biology is increasingly found at the level of the proteome.