September 2011

How an Italian scientist doing Frankenstein-like experiments on dead frogs discovered that the body is powered by electrical impulses.

The book that serves as bio art's encyclopedia.

Philippa “Pippa” Marrack has made some unanticipated discoveries about how the immune system functions in health and disease.

Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows, Harvard University. Age: 28

Editor’s Choice in Developmental Biology

Editor’s Choice in Immunology

Editor’s Choice in Cell Biology

When it comes to studying cephalopod brains and behavior, it helps to have a philosopher around.

Have researchers found the seat of urination control in a primitive brain region?

A veterinary vaccine spawned products that could clean the HIV virus from blood supplies.

Indigenous populations are especially vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. A new research project aims to help them adapt.

September 2011's selection of notable quotes

Long-term potentiation (LTP), discovered in the 1970s, was later shown to be the molecular basis of memory. 

Looking for a more realistic way to study memory, we turned to place cells­­—­a network of cells that record a rat’s memory of an environment. 

Early on, researchers had learned that the hippocampus was the structure in the brain where long-term memories were created and stored, but it was not known whether the different cell types within this structure might be more or less susceptible to the aging process.

The initiating cause of Alzheimer’s disease is still unknown. However, from our studies it’s clear that many types of neuronal damage—­­from traumatic brain injury, to epilepsy, infection, or genetic predisposition—­can activate brain immune cells—microglia and astrocytes-- promoting them to produce IL-1 and S100 inflammatory cytokines.

How to drive home your science with a visually pleasing poster

A trip through the transcriptome

Measuring how individual cells differ from each other will enhance the predictive power of biology.

In the memory circuits of the aging brain and the signaling pathways of pain, science is trading mystery for mastery.

Exposing the life and work of a visionary and troubled scientist opens a window onto the evolution of altruism.

A new, genetically encoded tag for electron microscopy may revolutionize studies of specific proteins in cells and tissues.

Art + Science Now, Signs of Life, Perceptions of Promise, Green Light

Meet some of the people featured in the September 2011 issue of The Scientist.

Purinergic signaling, not mystical energy, may explain how acupuncture works.