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Cover Story

How We Age
The Scientist | Mar 1, 2015 | 10+ min read
From DNA damage to cellular miscommunication, aging is a mysterious and multifarious process.

Features

Wrangling Retrotransposons
Andrei Seluanov, Michael Van Meter, and Vera Gorbunova | Mar 1, 2015 | 8 min read
These mobile genetic elements can wreak havoc on the genome. Researchers are now trying to understand how such activity contributes to the aging process.
Nourishing the Aging Brain
Morten Scheibye-Knudsen | Mar 1, 2015 | 10 min read
Research reveals how the brain changes as we age and hints at ways to slow the decline.

Contributors

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

Editorial

Age-Old Questions
Age-Old Questions
Age-Old Questions
How do we age, and can we slow it down?

Speaking of Science

Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
Speaking of Science
March 2015's selection of notable quotes

Notebook

Beneficial Stats
Beneficial Stats
Beneficial Stats
Statisticians who normally crunch numbers to forecast trends in the food-service industry turn their attention to bettering treatment of ALS.
A Deathly Pallor
A Deathly Pallor
A Deathly Pallor
Global warming could lead to lighter-colored insects with waning immune defenses.
Slip Me Some Skin
Slip Me Some Skin
Slip Me Some Skin
Scientists tracing the history of livestock breeding probe parchment documents for genetic information.
Falling Out of the Family Tree
Falling Out of the Family Tree
Falling Out of the Family Tree
A mutation in an ethanol-metabolizing enzyme arose around the time that arboreal primates shifted to a more terrestrial lifestyle, perhaps as an adaptation to eating fermented fruit.

Critic at Large

Sharing Longevity Data
Sharing Longevity Data
Sharing Longevity Data
Aging research would greatly benefit from consistently making annotated life span data available.
Quantity or Quality?
Quantity or Quality?
Quantity or Quality?
Living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living healthier.

Modus Operandi

Tricky Transfections
Tricky Transfections
Tricky Transfections
A combination of microinjection and electroporation inserts genes into hard-to-reach cells.

The Literature

Rethinking Telomeres
Rethinking Telomeres
Rethinking Telomeres
Not only do telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes, they also modulate gene expression over cells’ lifetimes.
Growth Hormone Guidance
Growth Hormone Guidance
Growth Hormone Guidance
Intact growth hormone signaling pathways are needed for methionine restriction to extend mouse lifespan.
Long Live Collagen
Long Live Collagen
Long Live Collagen
Increased collagen expression is a common feature of many different pathways to extended longevity in worms.

Profile

Of Cells and Limits
Of Cells and Limits
Of Cells and Limits
Leonard Hayflick has been unafraid to speak his mind, whether it is to upend a well-entrenched dogma or to challenge the federal government. At 86, he’s nowhere near retirement.

Scientist to Watch

Weiwei Dang: Epigenetics in Aging
Weiwei Dang: Epigenetics in Aging
Weiwei Dang: Epigenetics in Aging
Assistant Professor, Huffington Center On Aging, Baylor College of Medicine. Age: 38

Lab Tools

Chill GPS
Chill GPS
Chill GPS
Keeping track of frozen biological samples
Red Hot
Red Hot
Red Hot
CRISPR/Cas is all the rage—and getting more precise and efficient.

Careers

riding out rejection publishing
Riding Out Rejection
Riding Out Rejection
How to navigate the choppy waters of scientific publication

Reading Frames

Stirring the Pot
Stirring the Pot
Stirring the Pot
How to navigate the slings and arrows of conducting “controversial” research

Capsule Reviews

Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Capsule Reviews
Evolving Ourselves, The Man Who Touched His Own Heart, Bats, and The Invaders

Foundations

<em>Apiarium</em>, 1625
Apiarium, 1625
Apiarium, 1625
Galileo’s improvements to the microscope led to the first published observations using such an instrument.
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