June 2008

Journalist and author Fran Hawthorne has covered health care and business for more than 20 years for the New York Times, Fortune, Worth and Newsday among others. She is also the author of four books, including Inside the FDA, and most recently, Pension Dumping, published in April. In Diverting a Diet Drug, Hawthorne explores how a pharmaceutical company transitioned a weight-loss drug from being prescription-on

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Animal research war wages I understand the frustration behind Conn's writing. 1 I can easily believe that the demonstrations in connection with his job interview swayed the board to pick another candidate for the job. On the other hand, I still believe that a great majority in the country realizes that there is no replacement for animal

Credit: Photo by Mick Hales" /> Credit: Photo by Mick Hales EYEING EVOLUTION » In Before Darwin, Eric Smith describes how Darwin's theories don't quite work for the early earth. For a closer look at the world on which Darwin based his ideas, this is your last chance to visit the New York Botanical Garden's exhibit Darwin's Garden, featuring the plants that inspired him. It closes June 15. For more, see http:

Hazel Barton with a gypsum formation. Credit: Courtesy of Dave Bunnell / Under Earth Images" />Hazel Barton with a gypsum formation. Credit: Courtesy of Dave Bunnell / Under Earth Images Three years ago, Hazel Barton, a biologist from Northern Kentucky University, traveled to southern Venezuela to star in an Animal Planet documentary entitled "The Real Lost World." While there, she visited Mount Roraima, the largest

Torch Ginger flower in which a new species of Caenorhabditis was found. Credit: Courtesy of Valérie Robert" />Torch Ginger flower in which a new species of Caenorhabditis was found. Credit: Courtesy of Valérie Robert In December 2007, Marie-Anne Félix was taking a small cruise along the southwestern coast of India when she found herself docked in a remote lagoon in the backwate

For Mike Rossner, the impetus to look for image manipulation came suddenly. In 2002, when Rossner was the managing editor at the Journal of Cell Biology, the journal switched to completely electronic submissions. One of the first submissions after the change contained unusable PowerPoint images. In the process of reformatting, Rossner, now executive director of Rockefeller Press, di

A monkey at the CNPRC Credit: Courtesy of Katherine West / CNPRC" />A monkey at the CNPRC Credit: Courtesy of Katherine West / CNPRC It was the spring of 2005, and some of the rhesus monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center were behaving oddly. Specifically, they were climbing to the top of their chain-linked cages and flipping over backwards, over and over. Others were pacing frantically

var FO = { movie:"http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/54719/worms.swf", width:"520", height:"680", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); The worm hunter in India Please download the Adobe Flash Player to view this content:

var FO = { movie:"http://images.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/autisticMonkey/Autism.swf", width:"400", height:"550", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"false"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Video: Autistic Monkeys?In our June issue, staff writer Andrea Garwrylewski writes about how some of the rhesus monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center whose mothers had been given an injection of autism-associated antibodies were behaving oddly. Specifically

Ravi Allada (left) and Kevin Keegan (right) getting into the rhythm of their analysis. Credit: Courtesy of Ravi Allada" />Ravi Allada (left) and Kevin Keegan (right) getting into the rhythm of their analysis. Credit: Courtesy of Ravi Allada In October 2004, just as the clocks were changing in Illinois, the focus of Kevin Keegan's graduate work on circadian clocks was changing, too. Keegan, a

The Citric Acid CycleThe reductive citric acid cycle behaves like a chemical hurricane. Carbon atoms from CO 2 (yellow and orange) attach at either end of molecules. As the cycle proceeds (counterclockwise), they are drawn toward the interior (red) until the molecule splits at the top of the cycle, creating two smaller molecules (curved arrow), which then repeat the cycle. var FO = { movie:"http://images.the-scientist.com/content/images/articles/54716/infographic

Before Darwin © Michele David, Lava Pool, 2001 How the earth went from lifeless to life. By Eric SmithUnderpainting by Michele Smith Illustrations by Bryan Satalino Related Articles 1 in 1865 that traits do not mix like paint when they are handed down from parents to offspring, but rather are shuffled like cards. The concept of the unmixable source of a trait (say, whether peas would be smooth or wrinkled) was given the name gene, and Mendel's im

Diverting a Diet Drug How did a controversial product become the first weight-loss drug to be available without a prescription? By Fran Hawthorne Illustrations by Bill Sanderson Related Articles 1 "That was another big Aha! moment, because we didn't know that study existed," Burton says. The researchers found that people who took orlistat (the generic name for Xenical) experienced a 37% lower risk of type 2 diabetes. According to the report, "the overal

Infographic: Three Obesity Drugs By Edyta Zielinska var FO = { movie:"http://images.the-scientist.com/content/images/articles/54718/drugs.swf", width:"520", height:"400", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"false"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Please download the Adobe Flash Player to view this content: Related Articles Diverting a Diet Drug The Good FatThe Future of the FDAThe Trouble with Tech Transfer var FO = { mov

Best Places to Work 2008: Industry courtesy of Sigma-Aldrich The competitive world of industry fosters an appetite to get ahead. In our sixth annual survey, we uncover the recipe for a successful workplace. By Elie Dolgin Best Places to Work 2008: Industry New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic ChartsRanking Tables: Top 30 Top Large Top Small Downloadable PDFs The c

Best Places to Work Postdoc 2008: Top 30 Companies In our June issue, review the companies that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Industry survey. Click here to view the printable PDF.Click on the thumbnail to use the interactive chart. Resize the rows or scroll within the chart to view category. Related Articles New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic Ch

Best Places to Work Postdoc 2008: Top Small Companies In our June issue, review the companies that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Industry survey. Click here to view the printable PDF.Click on the thumbnail to use the interactive chart. Resize the rows or scroll within the chart to view category. Related Articles New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic

Best Places to Work Postdoc 2008: Top Large Companies In our June issue, review the companies that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Industry survey. Click here to view the printable PDF.Click on the thumbnail to use the interactive chart. Resize the rows or scroll within the chart to view category. Related Articles New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic

Best Places to Work 2008: Industry Top Institutions PDF Related Articles Best Places to Work in Industry 2008 New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic Charts Ranking Tables: Top 30 Top Large Top Small Downloadable PDFs In our June issue, review the companies that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Industry survey. Here, download the 2008 Top In

var FO = { movie:"http://www.the-scientist.com/supplementary/flash/54703/bptw_industry08.swf", width:"520", height:"680", majorversion:"8", build:"0", xi:"true"}; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Slideshow: Best Places to Work in Industry Please download the Adobe Flash Player to view this content: Related Articles New opportunities at Organon Lone-star pharma Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Industry Demographic Char

Best Places to Work 2008: Demographics & Most Important Factors Factors you Ranked Most Important 1 Job Satisfaction My work gives me personal satisfaction. 2 Job Satisfaction I feel that my contributions to the team are appreciated and that the team works well together. 3 Integrity My company sets and adheres to high ethical standards. 4 Research Environment My company provides the equipment and services I nee

Organon headquarters in Oss, the Netherlands Credit: reproduced with permission of nv Organon / all rights reserved" />Organon headquarters in Oss, the Netherlands Credit: reproduced with permission of nv Organon / all rights reserved Organon ranked seventh among large companies in this year's Best Places to Work in Industry survey - its first year on our charts. Despite being acquired last f

A researcher at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Credit: Courtesy of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals" />A researcher at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Credit: Courtesy of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Thirty miles north of Houston, texas - and a world away from the biopharmaceutical industry's hubs in California and New Jersey - sits The Woodlands, a sylvan community and home to the headquarters of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. The compan

The Scientist Readers' Survey Methodology Best Places to Work in Industry 2008Survey Form: A web-based survey was posted on The Scientist web site from January 15 to March 7, 2008. Results were collected and collated automatically.Click here for survey questionsInvitations: E-mail invitations were sent to readers of The Scientist and registrants on The Scientist web site who identified themselves as working in commercial or industrial companies. Responses: 1929 useable an

Sean Eddy used his decades' experience playing video games to design software that found an entire new class of genes. And he's still looking.

Regulatory affairs liaisons communicate directly with the FDA throughout the drug development process and manage the drug application filings. They play an important role in providing strategic regulatory advice for the company's drug development programs.

Preclinical is the step between discovery research and clinical trials. Because clinical trials are so expensive, preclinical research is an important step in selecting only those drug candidates that have the greatest chance of success. This work involves testing drug candidates in cell lines and in animal models to demonstrate efficacy and safety.

Project managers oversee and coordinate the efforts of multidisciplinary projects so teams complete their work in an efficient, timely, and focused manner. This involves leading and managing a team of accomplished people who don't report directly to you, orchestrating schedules, staying within budgets, and handling a variety of personalities.

In process development, you produce chemical or biological drug candidates at small scale for clinical trials, and develop synthesis and bioprocessing methods for scale-up into commercial manufacturing. It is a growing area that attracts chemists, microbiologists, biochemists, and molecular biologists.

Full partnerships with industry are spawning a new era of translational medicine.

For certain experiments, I've learned that there's no better place to do biology.

Investigators identify key players that regulate self-renewal and differentiation in stem cell research.

Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan Pritchard / Public Library of Science" /> Credit: Courtesy of Jonathan Pritchard / Public Library of Science The paper: B.F. Voight et al., "A map of recent positive selection in the human genome," PLoS Biology, 4:446-58, 2006. (Cited in 138 papers) The finding: In 2006, Jonatha

Credit: Courtesy of Jane Elith" /> Credit: Courtesy of Jane Elith The paper: J. Elith et al., "Novel methods improve predictions of species' distributions from occurrence data," Ecography, 29:129-51, 2006. (Cited in 128 papers) The finding: Jane Elith of the University of Melbourne and Catherine Graham of SUNY Stony Brook led the te

Credit: Courtesy of Meyer Instruments Inc / www.meyerinst.com" /> Credit: Courtesy of Meyer Instruments Inc / www.meyerinst.com The paper: J.R. Whitlock et al., "Learning induces long-term potentiation in the hippocampus," Science, 313:1093-7. (Cited in 91 papers) The finding: In 2006, Mark Bear's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology w

Identifying the retrovirus that causes AIDS

Credit: © laura barisonzi photography" /> Credit: © laura barisonzi photography For his 33rd birthday last year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology geneticist Peter Reddien received a special gift from his students: a t-shirt imprinted with a picture of a six-headed flatworm. Reddien and his postdoc, Christian Petersen, had recently created the altered planarian, Schmidtea mediterranea,

How to find your way around three-dimensional cell culture.

User: Joan Brugge, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Mass. Project: Investigating morphogenesis of 3-D structures such as luminal epithelial tissue Related Articles Shaping Up Commerical 3D matrices Tips for setting up 3-D cell cultures Home-made matrix Mixed gel Planar imaging Problem: Cells may behave diffe

Scanning electron micrograph of human fibroblast (gray) intercalating within three-dimensional in vivo-like cell-derived matrix (cyan). Credit: Courtesy of Michal Jarnik and Edna Cukierman / Fox Chase Cancer Center" />Scanning electron micrograph of human fibroblast (gray) intercalating within three-dimensional in vivo-like cell-derived matrix (cyan). Credit: Courtesy of Michal Jarnik and Edn

Mammary FSK-3 cells plated onto matrix pads consisting of rat mammary ECM isolated from a nulliparous mouse, treated with 24hr pulse of BrdU and processed for immunohistochemical detection. Credit: Pepper Schedin / University of Colorado Health Sciences Center" />Mammary FSK-3 cells plated onto matrix pads consisting of rat mammary ECM isolated from a nulliparous mouse, treated with 24hr

3D cultures of pancreatic tumor cells are embedded in agarose for imaging with light sheet-based fluorescence microscopy. Credit: Francesco Pampaloni / EMBL" />3D cultures of pancreatic tumor cells are embedded in agarose for imaging with light sheet-based fluorescence microscopy. Credit: Francesco Pampaloni / EMBL User: Ernst Stelzer, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heid

Credit: Trevigen" /> Credit: Trevigen Reconstituted basement membrane extract (BME) Who: BD (Matrigel), Trevigen (Cultrex). Uses and Perks: Supports the growth and differentiation of cells and tissues. Recapitulates the morphology and viscoelasticity of the ECM. Can be remodeled by cells Drawbacks: Expensive, composition is variable.

Choose your substrate. Basement membrane extract (BME) is fine for studying tissue-specific differentiation, because it can approximate the morphology and viscoelasticity of the tissues in extracellular matrices in vivo, explains Valerie Weaver of the University of California, San Francisco. If you're working on invasive tumors, however, try collagen or a similar substra

Can a company harness stem cells to treat injured horses?

Four high-paying, in-demand, industry jobs scientists often overlook, and tips on how to get in.

Credit: courtesy of John Sulston" /> Credit: courtesy of John Sulston Starting in 1980, John Sulston spent 18 months hunched over a microscope watching Caenorhabditis elegans embryos divide. Together with Bob Horvitz at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, he had already mapped the fate of every cell in the adult worm from the moment the egg hatched, but the embryonic cell line