Cover Story
Celebrating 25 Years of The Scientist
The Scientist Staff | Oct 1, 2011 | 1 min read
Our silver anniversary issue celebrates a quarter century of covering major advances in the life sciences—some in fields that didn’t even exist when we first went to press—and looks ahead to future research milestones.
Features
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Walter F. Bodmer | Oct 1, 2011 | 4 min read
In celebration of major conceptual advances in biology and the revolutions just over the horizon
Neuroscience
Edyta Zeilinska | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
Read about beginnings of neuroscience through the eyes of Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel, and how researchers today envision the future of the field.
Omics
Stephen Friend and Megan Scudellari | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
Early sequencing evolved into the publication of genomes for myriad species, including our own, within the span of two and a half decades. Bioinformatician Stephen Friend opines on what's in store as the next quarter century of omics takes shape.
Funding
Mary Woolley and Bob Grant | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
Explore the past and present of US research funding, compare the investment priorities of the United States and Europe, and read an opinion from Research!America president Mary Woolley on what scientists need to do to secure the financial future of the US research enterprise.
Nanomedicine
The Scientist Staff | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
At the nanoscale old materials acquire new properties that International Institute for Nanotechnology Director Chad Mirkin thinks will change the way medicine is practiced.
Synthetic Biology
J. Craig Venter, George M. Church, and Jef Akst | Oct 1, 2011 | 4 min read
Learn about the field’s first genetic circuits and read forecasts by George M. Church and J. Craig Venter of a future where man-made organisms pump out novel fuels, drugs, and therapies.
Biodiversity
Thomas E. Lovejoy | Oct 1, 2011 | 3 min read
Ecosystems are failing and extinction rates are soaring. Thomas E. Lovejoy and Edward O. Wilson weigh in on why cataloging existing species, discovering new ones, and maintaining a balanced and diverse global ecosystem are critical for ensuring a habitable environment for all.
Special Issue Feature
A Small Revolution
A Small Revolution
In fewer than 15 years, nanomedicine has gone from fantasy to reality.
A Not-So-Short Circuit?
A Not-So-Short Circuit?
As neuroscientists look to the future of their field, they are beginning to delve into more complex factors that define our emotions and intentions.
Opinion: Thinking Outside the Genome
Opinion: Thinking Outside the Genome
By extending its reach beyond science, the field of omics will change the way we live our lives.
Opinion: Research and Debt Reduction
Opinion: Research and Debt Reduction
Investing more federal dollars in life science research may save the US economy.
Opinion: Evolving Engineering
Opinion: Evolving Engineering
Exploiting the unique properties of living systems makes synthetic biologists better engineers.
Opinion: Synthesizing Life
Opinion: Synthesizing Life
Designing genomes from scratch will be the next revolution in biology.
Conserving Our Shared Heritage
Conserving Our Shared Heritage
Reversing catastrophic threats to our planet’s biodiversity is not optional: our lives depend on it.
Interview: Speaking of Memory
Interview: Speaking of Memory
Considered a renegade by his peers, Nobel Prize-winner Eric Kandel used a simple model to probe the neural circuitry of memory.
Opinion: Exploring a Little-Known Planet
Opinion: Exploring a Little-Known Planet
Cataloging the staggering richness of Earth’s species will have multiple payoffs.
Tinkering With Life
Tinkering With Life
A decade’s worth of engineering-infused biology
A Quarter Century of Fueling Science
A Quarter Century of Fueling Science
History repeats itself, and so do trends in research funding.
Data Deluge
Data Deluge
Large-scale data collection and analysis have fundamentally altered the process and mind-set of biological research.
Opinion: Miniaturizing Medicine
Opinion: Miniaturizing Medicine
Nanotechnology will offer doctors new ways to diagnose and treat patients, boosting efficiency and slashing costs.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the October 2011 issue of The Scientist.
The Literature
Early Warning Signs
Early Warning Signs
Editor’s choice in Ecology
Traffic Cops
Traffic Cops
Editor's Choice in Cell Biology
Light on Leaves
Light on Leaves
Editor’s choice in Plant Biology
Notebook
Double Blind
Double Blind
The mother of disabled twins doggedly pursued the root of her children's illness and found it in their genome profiles.
Evolution, Tout de Suite
Evolution, Tout de Suite
Epigenetic perturbations could jump-start heritable variation.
Gorilla Warfare
Gorilla Warfare
As ecotourism becomes more popular, wild apes are succumbing to human diseases.
Marauding Moths
Marauding Moths
Dried plant specimens reveal the origin of an insect pest that has spread throughout Europe.
Infographics
Designing Genetic Circuits
Designing Genetic Circuits
Near the turn of the millennium, James Collins and Stanislas Leibler independently undertook rather similar projects: design what would become synthetic biology’s seminal genetic circuits. And they came up with strikingly similar action plans.
Research and Development Funding, By the Numbers
Research and Development Funding, By the Numbers
Government and industry are the biggest funders of research, basic and otherwise. Here is how science funding in the US and European Union has shaped up in the past two and a half decades.
Swallowing the Surgeon
Swallowing the Surgeon
In fewer than 15 years, nanomedicine has gone from fantasy to reality.
Editorial
. . . And Many Happy Returns
. . . And Many Happy Returns
To the great scientific leaps witnessed during our first 25 years, and the game changers yet to come.
Alive and Kicking
Alive and Kicking
The publication I launched a quarter century ago has come further than anyone ever expected.
Reading Frames
Going Viral
Going Viral
The promise of viruses as biotech tools will help molecular biology fulfill its true potential.
Beyond Nature vs. Nurture
Beyond Nature vs. Nurture
Researchers studying differences in how individuals respond to stress are finding that genes are malleable and environments can be deterministic.
Foundations
The Scientist, Inaugural Issue, 1986
The Scientist, Inaugural Issue, 1986
Twenty-five years later, the magazine is still hitting many of the same key discussion points of science.
The Human Genome Project, Then and Now
The Human Genome Project, Then and Now
An early advocate of the sequencing of the human genome reflects on his own predictions from 1986.
Lab Tools
Charting the Course
Charting the Course
Three gene jockeys share their thoughts on past and future tools of the trade.
Slideshows
Newly Discovered Species
Newly Discovered Species
Life on Earth is mind-bogglingly diverse with estimates of the number of existing species in the tens of millions. Over the last 4 billion years, many species have gone extinct; and because of the actions of humans, many existing species are now endangered.
Saving Rwanda's Gorillas
Saving Rwanda's Gorillas
In late June 2009, a small group of mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park began to fall ill. One by one, 11 of the dozen apes started exhibiting severe respiratory problems.
Bio Business
New Tech Boosts Science
New Tech Boosts Science
From iPhone apps to cloud computing, everyday digital technologies are helping advance drug discovery, conduct clinical trials, and improve medical care.
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
A selection of quotes from past issues of The Scientist.
Videos
Kandel on Neuroscience
Kandel on Neuroscience
Eric Kandel, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work on signal transduction in the nervous system, chats about the ever-changing field of neuroscience, funding, his students, and what he hopes science will accomplish.