November 2008

Phyllis Wise has spent more than 30 years trying to understand the role of estrogen in animal models, and found that the hormone protected the body from injury following stroke. So, in 2002, when the Women's Health Initiative announced that hormone therapy appeared to cause more harm than good, Wise, based at the University of Washington, and her colleagues were shocked. Wise and her

Is there something in our cultural heritage that makes us better or worse at biotech?

Let's change the world I congratulate you on "The scientist as politician,"1 and I personally feel it is critical that those in scientific professions become involved in the political process for a variety of reasons. Skills in writing and communication are important, since I have found that by being on several nonprofit boards, and now serving as president of a local homeowners' association, that

Credit: © Karin Pierre / Institut de Physiologie, Unil, Lausanne" /> Credit: © Karin Pierre / Institut de Physiologie, Unil, Lausanne N IS FOR NEURO » November is neuroscience month, both in our pages (A Potent Protein), and in Washington DC. On the 15th, attendees of the 38th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience will gather to hear the latest on their fields. Organizers are expecting more than 30,000 people this yea

Do these school kids hold the secret to a malaria vaccine? Credit: Courtesy of Arlene Dent" />Do these school kids hold the secret to a malaria vaccine? Credit: Courtesy of Arlene Dent Mud-brick, thatch-roofed school houses in small villages that cling to rugged mountainsides in Papua New Guinea - this was the topic of conversation between two malaria researchers at a Philadelphia restaurant during a

Temperatures outside Nomura bank in London climbed into the high summertime registers as six biotech executives in dark suits filed into windowless rooms. The men were immediately segregated into two groups and told they had two days to turn a university spin-out into a billion dollar public company. Oh, and the two groups were competing against each other in a biotech "wargame," and wo

Credit: Courtesy of Sorenson BioScience" /> Credit: Courtesy of Sorenson BioScience In labs across the world, heaping piles of pipette tip boxes spill out of trashcans and onto the floor. A single lab can burn through hundreds of pipette tips in an hour, creating enormous waste. In an attempt to minimize the waste, Jonathan Trent's protein chemistry lab at NASA AMES reuses all of its micropipette tip boxes.

Some proteins may morph from one structure to another - in this case, a cube-like structure can switch to a tetrahedal shape. Credit: SOURCE: Eileen Jaffe / Fox Chase Cancer Center" />Some proteins may morph from one structure to another - in this case, a cube-like structure can switch to a tetrahedal shape. Credit: SOURCE: Eileen Jaffe / Fox Chase Cancer Center For years, Fox Chase Cancer Center researcher Eileen Jaffe's findings on the behavior of

A strawberry poison frog at La Selva. Credit: Courtesy of Pete Carmichael" />A strawberry poison frog at La Selva. Credit: Courtesy of Pete Carmichael On a humid summer afternoon, Steven Whitfield, a wildlife researcher at Florida International University, leaves the extensive trail system at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica and wades deeper into the rainforest. "I'll watch out for snakes for you," he says.

A network of international experts is setting up a Supercourse to meet the challenge.

...But it's not a conspiracy designed to maintain the status quo.

Twin Disorders What can two little girls teach us about Alzheimer's disease? By Alison McCook hen you meet identical four-year old twins Addi and Cassi Hempel, you might notice something about the way they walk. They used to run around like other toddlers, but now they are more wobbly, more uncertain, and walk with their legs somewhat wide apart, as if aboard a boat. They can sway in any direction, losing their balance. They fall more often than they should.

Clearing Estrogen's Bad Name In the six years since the Women's Health Initiative, we're learning estrogens might not be so bad after all. By Phyllis Wise The summer of 2002 was a tense time for us. One announcement and all of our knowledge and experience as basic researchers was put to question. On July 10th, Jacques Rossouw, the director of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial, which tracked the long term effects of hormone therapy (

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top 40 US Institutions In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top 15 US Institutions In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top 10 International Institutions In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodo

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Strengths and Weakness of the Top 10 International Institutes In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top US Institutions on five most important factors In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Scie

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: Top Countries List In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology

Best Places to Work Academia 2008: What's Important to US and international scientists In our November issue, we review the institutions that ranked at the top of our annual Best Places to Work for Academia 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 each category. Related ArticlesBest Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Scien

Best Places to Work 2008: Academia Top Institutions PDF Related Articles Best Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Academia Type of Institutions How respondents spend their time Ranking Tables: Top 40 US Academic Institutions Top 15 US Academic Institutions Top 10 International Academic Institutions Top US institutions on five most important factors Stre

Best Places to Work 2008: Academia This year's top institutions give researchers more than a place to do great science. They offer the opportunity to nurture, and be nurtured in return. By Megan Scudellari Related Articles Best Places to Work in Academia 2008 The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Academia Type of Institutions How respondents spend their timeRanking Tables: Top 40 US Academic Insti

How this year's respondents spend their time var FO = { movie:"/supplementary/flash/Charts/FC_2_3_Pie3D.swf", width:"500", height:"350", majorversion:"8", build:"0", flashvars:"&dataURL=/fragments/bptw/spend_time.xml&chartWidth=500&chartHeight=350" }; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Replacement content Correction: When originally posted "Laboratory Services" and "Other Activities" were listed being major activities for 5% of this year's respondents.

Type of Institution var FO = { movie:"/supplementary/flash/Charts/FC_2_3_Pie3D.swf", width:"450", height:"300", majorversion:"8", build:"0", flashvars:"&dataURL=/fragments/bptw/type_of_institution.xml&chartWidth=450&chartHeight=300" }; UFO.create(FO, "ufoDemo"); Replacement content Related Articles The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Methodology Slideshow: BPTW 2008 Academia Type of Institutions How

BPTW 2008: Academia Slideshow BPTW 2008: Academia Slideshow var so = new SWFObject("http://images.the-scientist.com/content/images/slideshows/bptw_academia_2008/slideshow.swf", "gallery", "400", "425", "6", "#ffffff");so.addVariable("file", "http://images.the-scientist.com/content/images/slideshows/bptw_academia_2008/slideshow.xml");so.addParam("wmode", "transparent");so.write("flashcontent"); Related Articles The art of WE at UAB Dead Sea Science Survey Met

NIH's Gisela Storz has spent her career drilling down to the core of questions such as how bacteria respond to oxidants - work that has taken her in some unexpected directions.

Identifying a key protein behind ALS redirects the fight against the disease.

Credit: COURTESY OF Jennifer M. Warner / Department of Biology, University of North Carolina-Charlotte" /> Credit: COURTESY OF Jennifer M. Warner / Department of Biology, University of North Carolina-Charlotte The paper: S. Leininger et al., "Archaea predominate among ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes in soils," Nature, 442:806-9, 2006 (Cited in 84 papers) The surprise:

Credit: Frank Vincentz / wikimedia.org" /> Credit: Frank Vincentz / wikimedia.org The paper: M. Lagouge et al., "Resveratrol improves mitochondrial function and protects against metabolic disease by activating SIRT1 and PGC-1α," Cell, 127:1109-22, 2006. (Cited in 139 papers) The finding: In 2006, Johan Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in France and colleagues trea

Credit: © Pekka Parviainen / Photo Researchers, Inc." /> Credit: © Pekka Parviainen / Photo Researchers, Inc. The paper: Ove Nilsson et al. "CO/FT regulatory module controls timing of flowering and seasonal growth cessation in trees," Science, 312:1040-3, 2006. (Cited in 58 papers). The finding: While trying to speed up breeding in flowering trees, Ove Nilsson's group

Credit: © Eric Shambroom Photography" /> Credit: © Eric Shambroom Photography As a child, Doris Tsao spent long hours musing on the mechanics and philosophy of vision with her father, who owns a company that designs artificial vision systems. "He made vision seem like the greatest scientific problem," she says. By the time Tsao was 11 or 12, she'd been hit by "the realization that your sense of vision is created by your brain" - and

How to put FRET biosensors to work for you when tracking cell signaling.

Immune Control CEO Stephen Roth is banking on a controversial hypothesis and is fashioning ways to block a neurotransmitter to fight autoimmune disease.

Secrets from science librarians that can save you hours of work.

NPC1's amino acid sequence homology to PATCHED, human HMG-CoA reductase and SCAP. Credit: Reprinted with permission from AAAS / Carstea et al., Science 277:228, 1997." />NPC1's amino acid sequence homology to PATCHED, human HMG-CoA reductase and SCAP. Credit: Reprinted with permission from AAAS / Carstea et al., Science 277:228, 1997. In the 1990s, the Ara Parseghian Foundation donated money to the National I