Features
Gene Editing Could One Day Treat Muscle Disorders
Sandeep Ravindran | Aug 30, 2018 | 10+ min read
Scientists race to develop CRISPR therapies that could save the lives of kids with muscle-wasting conditions.
Muscle Clocks Play a Role in Regulating Metabolism
Diana Kwon | Sep 1, 2018 | 9 min read
Just 20 years ago, scientists didn’t even realize muscles had their own circadian clocks. Now they are beginning to appreciate their importance in health.
How Muscles Age, and How Exercise Can Slow It
Gillian Butler-Browne, Vincent Mouly, Anne Bigot, and Capucine Trollet | Sep 1, 2018 | 10+ min read
Researchers untangle the multifarious nature of muscle aging. So far, the only reliable treatment is exercise.
Contributors
Contributors
Contributors
Meet some of the people featured in the September 2018 issue of The Scientist.
Editorial
No Enemy
No Enemy
Science journalists are essential to advancing the quality of the research enterprise.
Speaking of Science
Ten-Minute Sabbatical
Ten-Minute Sabbatical
Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.
Freeze Frame
Caught on Camera
Caught on Camera
Selected Images of the Day from the-scientist.com
Notebook
Vibrations Restore Sense of Movement in Prosthetics
Vibrations Restore Sense of Movement in Prosthetics
Scientists recreate proprioception for people with artificial arms using a perceptual illusion.
Nest Herbs Encourage Starling Parents to Incubate Their Eggs
Nest Herbs Encourage Starling Parents to Incubate Their Eggs
The presence of aromatic greens in with other building materials increased the time birds sat on their eggs, improving the health of the hatchlings.
Rat Remains Reveal Landscape Changes Wrought by Human Settlement of Polynesia
Rat Remains Reveal Landscape Changes Wrought by Human Settlement of Polynesia
Isotope changes in the bones demonstrate a similar pattern across far-flung islands.
Soft Robotics Find a Place in the Ocean
Soft Robotics Find a Place in the Ocean
Scientists who designed a marine robot to survey ocean life were inspired by eel larvae.
Critic at Large
Opinion: Stop Ignoring This Filament Crucial to Muscle Function
Opinion: Stop Ignoring This Filament Crucial to Muscle Function
Titin was discovered four decades ago, but some physiology textbooks fail to recognize the important role it plays in muscle contraction.
Modus Operandi
Putting Exosomes to Work
Putting Exosomes to Work
Researchers identify a handy tool for tinkering with the versatile vesicles.
The Literature
How Red Blood Cells Get Their Dimples
How Red Blood Cells Get Their Dimples
Myosin proteins tug on the cell membrane, giving an erythrocyte its distinct shape.
Old Age Has Links to Redox Stress in Muscles
Old Age Has Links to Redox Stress in Muscles
Even if people exercise, hydrogen peroxide and other reactive molecules continue to accumulate in the tissues.
Muscles Hold a Key to Sleep Recovery
Muscles Hold a Key to Sleep Recovery
A protein in skeletal muscles helps mice recover from sleep deprivation.
Profiles
Muscle Master: Angela Dulhunty
Muscle Master: Angela Dulhunty
Having pioneered the study of muscle physiology in mammals, she uncovered how ion channels enable muscle movement.
Scientist to Watch
Avnika Ruparelia’s Fish Reveal Secrets of Muscle Diseases and Aging
Avnika Ruparelia’s Fish Reveal Secrets of Muscle Diseases and Aging
The muscle biologist developed a zebrafish model for myofibrillar myopathies and is working with killifish to study muscle regeneration.
Lab Tools
Speeding Up Stem Cell Growth
Speeding Up Stem Cell Growth
Scientists fiddle with formulas to boost the growth of their stem cell cultures.
Bio Business
New ALS Therapies Move Closer to the Clinic
New ALS Therapies Move Closer to the Clinic
After two decades of failure, novel scientific insights and technical progress are spurring meaningful innovation in the field.
Reading Frames
Sandeep Jauhar’s New Book, Heart, is a Personal History
Sandeep Jauhar’s New Book, Heart, is a Personal History
In this adapted excerpt from the book, the author relays the past, present, and future of artificial hearts.
Foundations
Homo sapiens Exposed, 1556
Homo sapiens Exposed, 1556
Juan Valverde de Amusco’s anatomical drawings corrected some earlier errors while making anatomy more accessible.
Infographics
Infographic: How Muscles Age
Infographic: How Muscles Age
Numerous cellular changes underlie the decline of muscle mass and strength in the elderly.
Infographic: The Role of Circadian Clocks in Muscle
Infographic: The Role of Circadian Clocks in Muscle
Timekeepers in muscle help mediate metabolism, and may influence neurological processes such as sleep.
Infographic: Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy with CRISPR
Infographic: Treating Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy with CRISPR
The disease is caused by mutations in a single gene. Can gene editing fix the problem?
Infographic: Triggering Titin
Infographic: Triggering Titin
This third filament involved in muscle function is often ignored in medical textbooks. Here's how it works.
Infographic: Exploring New Therapeutic Targets in ALS
Infographic: Exploring New Therapeutic Targets in ALS
Biological insights from the last decade of research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are revealing novel opportunities for treatment.
Infographic: Red Blood Cell Shape
Infographic: Red Blood Cell Shape
What happens when myosin inside red blood cells can't do its job?
Infographic: Directing Exosome Traffic
Infographic: Directing Exosome Traffic
Researchers harness a protein to send cargo-carrying exosomes to mouse muscles.