Content by The Scientist

Mail A Better Mouse Let's take a dynamic, adaptive ecology (cancer) and while paying lip service to its complexity actually study it like a static system.1 Let's take a chronic, degenerative disease of aging (Parkinson's) and study it in healthy young rodents given an acute injury. Let's ignore that we know that health and disease are processes with complicated interdependencies and then wonder why our models fail to be predictive. And let

Top 7 From F1000 © Mark Kostich 1. How snakes see heat » Finally, an explanation for the long-standing mystery of how snakes sense warm-blooded prey from just their body heat, sometimes at a meter’s distance—the “wasabi receptor” TRPA1, which detects chemical irritants in mammals, has evolved in pit vipers to respond to heat. E.O. Gracheva et al., Nature 2010 Apr 15, 464(7291):1006–11. Evaluated by Roger Hardi

3D Science Ken Yamada discusses a paper that presents a new relatively cheap and easy way for scientists to grow cells in three dimensions. The role of dimensionality is a growing field in cell biology, but many labs cannot afford new tools that let cells grow in three dimensions—which could, in theory, better represent what happens in vivo. As a member of F1000’s Faculty of Cell Biology, Ken Yamada at the National Institute of Dental and C

Mail Do Fish have Personalities? Re: “Odd Man Out,”1 animals don’t have personalities since they are not persons. But individuals in many species (most, all?) differ from one another in the way they behave. If you do a behavioral experiment on rats, they will differ in how they respond, and the differences are in some situations consistent across tests that measure similar characteristics (like fear responses). So the rats diff

Contributors Stanford molecular biologist Suzanne Pfeffer studies how receptors are transported through human cells and end up in just the right place at the membrane. She specializes in Rab GTPases, the enzymes that orchestrate much of this activity. Currently, her lab is focusing on the functioning of the Golgi apparatus, the cell’s packaging and distribution center. “The Golgi’s a really important structure in the cell, and despite d

Top 7 from F1000 © Medi-Mation Ltd / Photo Researchers, Inc. 1. Smelling the difference » How do animals quickly tell the difference between similar smells? A clue from the mouse olfactory bulb: inhibiting signals from specific neurons makes odor discrimination fast and accurate. N.M. Abraham et al., Neuron, 65(3):399–411, February 11, 2010. Evaluated by Amar Sahay and Rene Hen, Columbia University; Kristina Rehm and Rosalind Seg

The Scientist Readers' Survey: Methodology Best Places to Work in Industry 2010 Survey Form: A web-based survey was posted on The Scientist web site from September 9 to November 30, 2009. Results were collected and collated automatically. Invitations: E-mail invitations were sent to readers of The Scientist and registrants on The Scientist web site who identified themselves as working in commercial or industrial companies. Responses: 1962 useable and qualifi

The Scientist Readers' Survey: Survey Questions Best Places to Work in Industry 2010 Category Question Research Environment My company provides adequate funding for my research. Research Environment My company's research mission is logical and practical, and I understand my role in it. Research Environment My supervisor helps me understand the reasons behind company research plans. Research Envi

Contributors Judy Lieberman, senior investigator at the Immune Disease Institute and the program in cellular and molecular medicine at the Children’s Hospital Boston, came to be a physician through an unusual pathway. Before attending medical school, Lieberman earned a doctorate in theoretical physics, but turned to a career in medicine so she could directly impact peoples’ lives. “I wanted to do something more socially useful,&#

Mail The Next New Thing Excellent idea to try to promote interactive behavior among life scientists.1 There is far too little interaction between scientists who are, understandably, frightened of divulging their work. There should be nothing wrong with talking about technical issues, though; that’s why so many forums have sprung up. I won’t be tempted by a t-shirt, though, which runs the risk of making your idea look a bit gimmick

table { font-size: 11px; } By Bob Grant Survey Questions Best Places to Work Postdocs 2010 Category Question Training and Mentoring My principal investigator takes time to discuss the science behind the experiments and other work that I do. Training and Mentoring I have learned much from my principal investigator about how to succeed as a scientist. Training and Mentoring My colleagues help

Contributors Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineer Arup K. Chakraborty remembers well the day that he learned about some of the challenges facing immunologists. “I found it a fascinating area of science and got completely enamored with it and have been so for the last decade,” he says. He uses his engineering background to apply theoretical and computational approaches to understanding how lymphocytes function (w

Mail Should Evolutionary Theory Evolve? Contrary to many people quoted in the article,1 I don’t think any formal revolution to evolutionary theory is necessary. If we say that the Modern Synthesis was finished by the end of World War II, then it is obvious that evolutionary theory has undergone immense change over the past 65 years. Some notable instances include the development of ideas about inclusive fitness, the neutral theory of molecular evolution, and pun

Contributors Kai Simons began researching cell membrane biology in the 1960s and 70s as a postdoc at Rockefeller University in New York, and he’s never looked back. “The field [is] at the crossroads of protein and lipid biochemistry, as well as cell biology and biophysics,” making it a challenging—but exciting—area to work in, says Simons, director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biol

Mail Speak Your Mind Steven Wiley’s article about the lack of willingness to debate1 is an excellent description of the current state of culture in biology. Perhaps the most important comment in the article is “Besides, why should anyone respect an opinion that even the author is not willing to claim?” Given the evident truth in this statement, are the excuses for keeping peer review anonymous really paramount? Colin Anderson Univer