About Us
Meet This Issue's Contributors
Meet This Issue's Contributors
, National Wildlife Federation President and CEO since April of last year, has been a passionate advocate for progress in conservation.
Editorial
Time for Rapid Rebuttal Technology
Time for Rapid Rebuttal Technology
I hadn't realized until recently that the United States is in the grip of a mania.
Letter
On the corn next door
On the corn next door
stated that under USDA standards, "organic farmers should not lose their certification due to adventitious presence of GMOs, as long as they take 'reasonable steps' to prevent such commingling.
A live-animal BSE test?
A live-animal BSE test?
Why is The Scientist giving prominence to a live bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) test for which no data is available?1 The question is particularly important in view of the fact that the July issue of Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology carries published research of a live BSE test,2 which has already been patented along with a patent for the human equivalent of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Battling bad news
Battling bad news
underlined the importance of organizations protecting the good names they have built over the years.
Opinion
Keeping Tabs on Mercury
Keeping Tabs on Mercury
When scientist David Evers of the Biodiversity Research Institute in Gorham, Maine, saw the latest data on mercury from Vermont's Green Mountains, he was amazed.
Notebook
A 9-year-old NIH grant awardee
A 9-year-old NIH grant awardee
If you're struggling to win your first National Institutes of Health grant, here's another reason to be depressed: One of the most unusual NIH awards ever given went to a 9-year-old boy.
Double helix double take
Double helix double take
It's not often that you get to witness a major scientific figure watch his own theatrical indictment.
Research
The Flap about FoxP2
The Flap about FoxP2
Recent results are as puzzling as they are beguiling, dredging up debates about the nature of language and the ability of a single gene to affect it so greatly.
Vision
On Human Diversity
On Human Diversity
Henry Flower became director of the British Museum of Nat ural History in 1884, and promptly set about rearranging exhibits.
The Protein Structure Initiative, Five Years Later
The Protein Structure Initiative, Five Years Later
Five years have passed since the National Institutes of Health launched the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI), a 10-year, $600 million effort to accelerate structural genomics.
Hot Paper
Debating Cross-Presentation
Debating Cross-Presentation
The immune system uses a sophisticated profiling method to identify and subdue foreign pathogens.
Briefs
Blocking growth to regenerate nerves
Blocking growth to regenerate nerves
Jamming the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor allows severed neurons to regenerate.1 "It's a surprising finding," says Martin Schwab of the University of Zurich, as activation of the EGF receptor is normally associated with proliferation and growth of cells.Previous research that sought to explain why mammalian axons fail to regenerate in the wounded brain or spinal cord found several inhibitory cues that prevent healing. The culprits include proteins associated with myelin and proteoglycan
Sexual communication in tears
Sexual communication in tears
For mice, getting teary-eyed conveys more than just sentiment.
Did SARS come from bats?
Did SARS come from bats?
Wild bats, rather than civet cats, may have been the source of the coronavirus behind the deadly SARS outbreak in 2003.
Tribute
Most Highly Cited
Most Highly Cited
When he was a boy, Eugene Garfield lived across the street from a branch of the New York Public Library.
The Future of Citation Analysis
The Future of Citation Analysis
has grown dramatically in size and influence. The database has expanded from 1.4 million citations in 1964 to 550 million today.
Top 10 Papers Published...
Top 10 Papers Published...
Top 10 Papers Published...Source Thomson Scientificin the last 2 years, in the last 10 years and of all time
Technology
Buyer's Guide to Flow Cytometers
Buyer's Guide to Flow Cytometers
NASA scientists, in conjunction with Guava Technologies of Hayward, Calif., recently announced a compact prototype flow cytometer that functions in zero-gravity, for use aboard the International Space Station.
Lessons from the Past
Lessons from the Past
Although she died when the Roman Empire ruled her native land, a five-year-old Egyptian child named Sherit is nevertheless pushing the envelope in high-tech medicine.
Tools and Technology
Carbon Dating for Cells?
Carbon Dating for Cells?
The cells in our body are continually replaced, especially those exposed to the harsher environments of the skin or intestine.
A Bone to Pick
A Bone to Pick
A new tissue-engineering method tricks the body into growing its own bone grafts.
BioBusiness
Stem Cells in Racehorses
Stem Cells in Racehorses
In the equine world, tendon and ligament injuries are bad news indeed.
The Early Money
The Early Money
When Todd Zion began looking for funds to launch Smart-Cells, a new company developing self-regulating insulin-delivery systems for patients with diabetes, he needed to raise just shy of $1.25 million, a number that "doesn't even show up on the radar screens of big venture capital firms," he says.
What is Phase Zero?
What is Phase Zero?
At one time, the drug development process had three phases.
Update
US societies reverse rules on Iranians
US societies reverse rules on Iranians
Two American academic societies have recently reversed their policies toward Iranian scientists.
Will open access work?
Will open access work?
A new report on open-access publishing released earlier this month has raised concerns about peer review, the standard of editing, and the financial future of some open-access journals.
Closing Bell
Scientists: Kenya Wants You!
Scientists: Kenya Wants You!
The Institute of Primate Research, in the Ololua forest about 20 kilometers outside the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has been in operation since it was founded by the archaeologist Louis Leakey in 1960.