Magazine Issue - July 2015 | Pinpointing Pathogens

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July 2015

Cover Story

Outbreak Observatory

Jyoti Madhusoodanan | Jul 1, 2015

Increasingly precise remote-sensing data are helping researchers monitor and predict cases of infectious disease.

Features

Driven to Extinction

Jef Akst | Jul 1, 2015

The eradication of smallpox set the standard for the global elimination of a devastating infectious disease. Will the ongoing polio and guinea worm campaigns be as successful?

The Sum of Our Parts

Janice Dietert, Rodney Dietert | Jul 1, 2015

Putting the microbiome front and center in health care, in preventive strategies, and in health-risk assessments could stem the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases.

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the July 2015 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Intelligence Gathering

Disease eradication in the 21st century

Speaking of Science

July 2015's selection of notable quotes

Notebook

The Lies That Scars Tell

Macaque trainers in Bangladesh are often bitten by their monkeys, but rarely infected by a particular simian retrovirus.

Brrrr-ying the Results

Holding laboratory mice at temperatures lower than those the animals prefer could be altering their physiology and skewing experimental results.

Hunting Off the Hook?

Historical data shed new light on the possible causes of southern sea lion decline in the Falkland Islands.

High-Flying Ducks

Five species of waterfowl have evolved a variety of adaptations to adjust to the high altitude of South America’s Lake Titicaca.

Critic at Large

When Does a Smart Mouse Become Human?

Ethical issues attend the creation of animal-human chimeras.

Modus Operandi

How to Make a New Species

Scientists mutate a mating pheromone and its corresponding receptor in yeast to promote speciation.

The Literature

1 + 1 = 1

Nutrient levels in soil don’t add up when food chains combine.

Metazoans in the DNAi Club

A chance discovery results in the first report of DNA-based gene silencing in an animal.

Sponging Up Phosphorus

Symbiotic bacteria in Caribbean reef sponges store polyphosphate granules, possibly explaining why phosphorous is so scarce in coral reef ecosystems.

Profile

Sold on Symbiosis

A love of the ocean lured Nicole Dubilier into science; gutless sea worms and their nurturing bacterial symbionts keep her at the leading edge of marine microbiology.