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Meet some of the people featured in the December 2016 issue of The Scientist.

The awesome architecture of the gateways to the nucleus

The importance of science innovation, publishing and gender, and more

Scientists are enlisting the help of pigeons, parrots, crows, jays, and other species to disprove the notion that human cognitive abilities are beyond those of other animals.

Researchers discover diverse communities of invertebrates inhabiting the water-filled tracks of elephants in Uganda.

Certain microbes express genes in a methane-production pathway, offering an explanation for puzzlingly high levels of the gas in some lakes.

A family’s collection of antique microscope slides became a trove of genetic information about the eradicated European malaria pathogen.

Sorting out which data sets are clinical-grade is key to helping patients.

Spruce and pine and have relied on similar genetic toolkits for climate adaptation despite millions of years of evolution.

Different assays lead to opposing conclusions on bacterial spores’ requirements during germination.

Cells with the best traction on a substrate pull their neighbors toward firmer ground.

Applying physics, chemistry, and cell biology, Satyajit Mayor seeks to understand how cell membranes work.

The Harvard professor is pursuing fundamental questions about autophagy, protein homeostasis, and other cellular processes, and he’s always on the lookout for his next new topic.

Improvements in instruments and statistical tools allow the capture and analysis of large data sets.

Sequencing and gene-editing advances make tracing a cell’s journey throughout development easier than ever.

Successful late-stage clinical trials could mark the maturation of a new drug development platform, but the path to commercialization is not without hurdles.

Using precision genome editing to treat or prevent human disease may require several leaps of faith.

In 1992, advancements in microscopy zoomed in on the precise architecture of the complex, including unforeseen structural repetition in two halves of the ring.

Engineered circuits detect endogenous transcription factors to drive cellular outputs.

Solving a long-standing structural puzzle will open the door to understanding one of the cell’s most enigmatic machines.