Making Connections

Meet some of the people featured in the May 2013 issue of The Scientist.

A look at some of biology’s communication networks

May 2013's selection of notable quotes

Children watching clips of Sesame Street inside fMRI scanners yield unprecedented insights into the functioning of their brains.

Libyan scientists, soon to be trained in countries around the world, are undertaking a massive search mission to find missing loved ones among thousands of dead bodies, casualties of the country’s recent popular revolution.

Previously unknown poisonous compounds isolated from a new species of mushroom may be responsible for the deaths of hundreds in China, but precisely how the fungus killed its victims is not clear.

A new DNA assay developed by forensic scientists helps archaeologists reconstruct eye and hair color from old teeth and bones.

Clinical researchers need programming support to streamline their work, minimize error in the data, and find new trends that can point to better treatments.

If African American researchers are ever to gain equal opportunities in science, even subtle cases of differential treatment must be stamped out.

Scientists create biocompatible, self-luminescing nanoparticles for in vivo imaging.

A virus that infects a crop-killing fungus can spread freely, opening the possibility of its use as a fungicide.

Viral infections of the central nervous system may trigger cytokines that induce seizures.

By varying the size of their steps, dynein motor proteins work effectively as teams to carry heavy loads around the cell.

When molecular biology methods failed her, Sangeeta Bhatia turned to engineering and microfabrication to build a liver from scratch.

Research Associate, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Age: 27

Sorting out T-cell functional and phenotypic heterogeneity depends on studying single cells.

One, two, three, four . . . . Counting colonies and plaques can be tedious, but tools exist to streamline the process.

After numerous high-profile safety scares, clinicians and regulators push to fix critical weaknesses in the FDA’s monitoring system for approved drugs.

American naturalist Louis Agassiz had a zeal for collecting that encouraged a nation to engage with nature.

The Bonobo and the Atheist, The Philadelphia Chromosome, Lone Survivors, and Paleofantasy

Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwin’s unheralded codiscoverer of the theory of evolution by natural selection, found inspiration in the specimens he collected on his travels.