Cover Story
Evolution’s Quick Pace Affects Ecosystem Dynamics
Jef Akst | May 1, 2017
From fish harvests to cottonwood forests, organisms display evidence that species change can occur on timescales that can influence ecological processes.
Features
The Proteasome: A Powerful Target for Manipulating Protein Levels
John Hines and Craig M. Crews | May 1, 2017
The proteasome’s ability to target and degrade specific proteins is proving useful to researchers studying protein function or developing treatments for diseases.
Understanding Body Ownership and Agency
Roman Liepelt and Jack Brooks | May 1, 2017
Understanding how people recognize and control their own bodies could help researchers develop therapies for those who’ve lost their sense of self.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the May 2017 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial
Learning Your Stripes
Learning Your Stripes
Science’s lowest common denominator has always been patterns.
Speaking of Science
Notable Science Quotes
Notable Science Quotes
Climate change, research funding, race, and much more
Notebook
Will Komodo Dragons Yield the Next Blockbuster Antibiotic?
Will Komodo Dragons Yield the Next Blockbuster Antibiotic?
The giant lizards have numerous microbicidal compounds in their blood.
Computers That Can Smell
Computers That Can Smell
Teams of modelers compete to develop algorithms for estimating how people will perceive a particular odor from its molecular characteristics.
Uncovering the Secrets of a Successful Pest
Uncovering the Secrets of a Successful Pest
The green peach aphid can colonize new host plants with ease through rapid changes in gene expression.
Future Homes May Have Bioreactive Walls
Future Homes May Have Bioreactive Walls
Researchers are redesigning the humble brick to produce electricity, to clean water and air, and to harvest valuable compounds.
Critic at Large
Opinion: Birds of a Feather?
Opinion: Birds of a Feather?
Taking into account the interaction of nuclear and mitochondrial genes in birds holds the promise of more objectively defining what constitutes a species.
Modus Operandi
Phosphorylation at the Flick of a Switch
Phosphorylation at the Flick of a Switch
Incorporating light-controlled dimerization domains into kinases provides tight regulation of these enzymes.
The Literature
Macrophages Physically Relay Signals Between Cell Types
Macrophages Physically Relay Signals Between Cell Types
Time-lapse imaging shows the immune cells transferring chemical signals during pigment pattern formation in developing zebrafish.
Noncoding RNA Helps Cells Recover from DNA Damage
Noncoding RNA Helps Cells Recover from DNA Damage
Scientists discover transcripts from the same gene that can express both proteins and noncoding RNA.
Rare T Cells Fight Cancer
Rare T Cells Fight Cancer
A new approach to immunotherapy finds that the immune-cell clonotypes that come to the rescue start out at very low frequencies.
Profile
Glia Guru
Glia Guru
Ben Barres recast glial cells from supporting actors to star performers, crucial for synaptic plasticity in the brain and for preventing neurodegenerative disorders.
Scientist to Watch
Valerie Horsley Gets Under Skin
Valerie Horsley Gets Under Skin
The Yale University cell and molecular biologist is probing the deep mysteries of epidermal cells.
Lab Tools
Picking Out Patterns
Picking Out Patterns
Machine-learning algorithms can automate the analysis of cell images and data.
Careers
Coming to Grips with Coauthor Responsibility
Coming to Grips with Coauthor Responsibility
The scientific community struggles to define the duties of collaborators in assuring the integrity of published research.
Reading Frames
Why I Had My Sense of Flavor Genotyped
Why I Had My Sense of Flavor Genotyped
One person’s quest to get to the bottom of the unique way he experiences food
Foundations
Embryonic Evolution Through Ernst Haeckel’s Eyes
Embryonic Evolution Through Ernst Haeckel’s Eyes
The 19th century biologist’s drawings, tainted by scandal, helped bolster, then later dismiss, his biogenetic law.