July 2012

New changes at The Scientist will ensure that we continue to showcase the best and brightest ideas in the life sciences.

July 2012's selection of notable quotes

Microscopic sponges made entirely of RNA enable efficient gene silencing.

Using tiny lipid discs, scientists resolve contradictory evidence about how many proteins are required for neurotransmitter release.

Making macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques digest spent organelles instead of dying may help keep plaques stable.

Retrotransposons contribute to genetic variability in human brain cells.

With persistence and pluck, Leslie Vosshall managed to snatch insect odorant receptors from the jaws of experimental defeat.

Senior Investigator, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Age 40

Critics point out that cell therapy has yet to top existing treatments. Biotech companies are setting out to change that—and prove that the technology can revolutionize medicine.

Learning the intricacies of your own genetic profile is a double-edged sword.

The discovery of the 2.5-million-year-old Taung Child skull marked a turning point in the study of human brain evolution.

Meet some of the most famous fossil discoveries of the hominin clan in this slide show. 

One way to increase biofuel production is to engineer plants that can withstand harsh environmental conditions, thereby expanding the range in which such crops can be grown. 

View some molecular models produced by fast and inexpensive 3-D printing processes, and learn how they’re yielding a fuller understanding of biochemical interactions. 

Evolving, The Moral Molecule, Aping Mankind, and Experiment Eleven

Of the many available no- or low-carbon methods to harvest energy, including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and solar approaches, conversion of plant biomass to liquid fuels is the most cost-effective strategy.

Present in every tissue of the body, ubiquitin appears to be involved in a dizzying array of functions, from cell cycle and division to organelle and ribosome biogenesis, as well as the response to viral infection. The protein plays at least two role

Despite its discovery as a protein that seems to show up everywhere, at least in eukaryotic cells, researchers are only beginning to scratch the surface of all of the cellular functions involving ubiquitin. 

Meet some of the people featured in the July 2012 issue of The Scientist.