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Features
Resolving Chronic Pain
Claudia Sommer and Frank Birklein | Jan 1, 2012 | 10+ min read
The body’s own mechanism for dispersing the inflammatory reaction might lead to new treatments for chronic pain.
Animal Mind Control
Jef Akst | Jan 1, 2012 | 10+ min read
Examples of parasites that manipulate the behavior of their hosts are not hard to come by, but scientists have only recently begun to understand how they induce such dramatic changes.
Top Ten Innovations 2011
The Scientist Staff | Jan 1, 2012 | 10+ min read
Our list of the best and brightest products that 2011 had to offer the life scientist
Editorial
In with the New
In with the New
There is definitely no shortage of technological innovation in the life sciences.
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
January 2012's selection of notable quotes
Notebook
Bat Luck
Bat Luck
An intrepid researcher and her team battle the elements and bouts of misfortune to explore the biodiversity of a brand new African country.
Lost Colony DNA
Lost Colony DNA
Genotyping could answer a centuries-old mystery about a vanished group of British settlers.
Hallowed Landfill
Hallowed Landfill
On the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, wildlife biologists reminisce about the role they played in the recovery of human remains.
Cat Cravings
Cat Cravings
A mutated feline receptor for sweet tastes explains why cats don’t love sugar but do dig mushrooms.
Critic at Large
An Evolving Science for an Evolving Time
An Evolving Science for an Evolving Time
Twenty-first century challenges to the public health of all the world’s populations require forward-looking commitments from epidemiologists.
Thought Experiment
Pitch Perfect
Pitch Perfect
Academic detailing has the potential to significantly improve clinical practice.
Modus Operandi
It’s Easy Being Green
It’s Easy Being Green
Now RNA can glow in the cell, as only proteins could in the past.
The Literature
Pits Stopped
Pits Stopped
Editor’s choice in cell biology
Prion Protectors
Prion Protectors
Editor’s choice in immunology
Motor Lock
Motor Lock
Editor’s choice in structural biology
Profile
High-Tech Choir Master
High-Tech Choir Master
Elaine Mardis can make DNA sequencers sing, generating genome data that shed light on evolution and disease.
Scientist to Watch
Lynne-Marie Postovit: Cancer Modeler
Lynne-Marie Postovit: Cancer Modeler
Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Western Ontario. Age: 34
Lab Tools
No Mo’ Slow Flow
No Mo’ Slow Flow
Tools and tricks for high-throughput flow cytometry
Bio Business
Bioterrorist Battles
Bioterrorist Battles
A Swiss-based firm may have a back-door way to thwart a bioterrorist attack—by fighting the flu.
Reading Frames
Anthropomorphism: A Peculiar Institution
Anthropomorphism: A Peculiar Institution
Should we rethink the parallel drawn between “slave-making” ants and human slavery, and other such oversimplifications of animal behavior?
Foundations
Before the Genes Jumped, 1930s
Before the Genes Jumped, 1930s
How Nobel Laureate Barbara McClintock nearly gave up genetics for meteorology
Slideshows
Roanoke Revisited
Roanoke Revisited
In July 1587, a British colonist named John White accompanied 117 people to settle a small island sheltered within the barrier islands of what would become North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Bat Hunt
Bat Hunt
Bucknell University mammalogist DeeAnn Reeder raises nets high into the darkened forest canopies of South Sudan to catch bats.
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Our Dying Planet, Here Be Dragons, Rat Island, Harnessed
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the January 2012 issue of The Scientist.
Infographics
Inflammation, Pain, and Resolvins
Inflammation, Pain, and Resolvins
Not all inflammation leads to pain. Despite widespread infection followed by fever, colds rarely cause pain. But when some cytokines and certain immune cells are active near pain-sensing nerves, they trigger receptors that convey pain sensations to the brain.
Videos
2011's Best and Brightest
2011's Best and Brightest
In its brief, 4-year history, The Scientist’s annual Top 10 Innovations contest has become a showcase of the coolest life science tools to emerge in the previous year.