Top 7 hidden jewels

#1 Malfunctioning microtubules Disruption to cellular microtubules during development had the surprising result of increasing the mechanical stiffness of frog embryos, leading to morphological defects and suggesting microtubules play an even more crucial role in cell movement and shape. J. Zhou, et al., "Macroscopic stiffening of embryonic tissues via microtubules, RhoGEF and the assembly of contractile bundles of actomyosin," Development, 137(16):2785-94, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000bio

Written byJef Akst

| 3 min read

#1 Malfunctioning microtubules Disruption to cellular microtubules during development had the surprising result of increasing the mechanical stiffness of frog embryos, leading to morphological defects and suggesting microtubules play an even more crucial role in cell movement and shape. J. Zhou, et al., "Macroscopic stiffening of embryonic tissues via microtubules, RhoGEF and the assembly of contractile bundles of actomyosin," Development, 137(16):2785-94, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/9630s7k8g6tmq7c/id/4234956/evaluation/sections John Wallingford, University of Texas at Austin. #2 Crucial carbon compounds

Image of the mitotic spindle in a human cell
showing microtubules in green, chromosomes
in blue, and kinetochores in red.
Image: Wikimedia commons,
Afunguy

By analyzing genes expressed by a coastal ocean bacterial community, the authors identify compounds that may be critical to the flow of organic carbon in the seawater and provide a novel way to study the function of marine bacteria in global carbon cycling. R.S. Poretsky, et al., "Transporter genes expressed by coastal bacterioplankton in response to dissolved organic carbon," Environ Microbiol, 12(3):616-27, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/k146k74378sj4x7/id/4197956/evaluation/sections John Hobbie, The Ecosystems Centre. #3 Say no to natural drugs Additional sources of synthetic small molecules may be required to target all the root causes of human disease. New findings show that small-molecule natural products target proteins with more protein-protein interactions than is typical of disease gene products, suggesting that natural products may not be the most suitable starting points for targeting many proteins linked to disease. V. Dancík, et al., "Distinct biological network properties between the targets of natural products and disease genes," J Am Chem Soc, 132(27):9259-61, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/v21jt371mkpw63p/id/4055956/evaluation/sections David Triggle, SUNY at Buffalo. #4 How muscles grow Researchers unraveled the mechanism of an important regulator of skeletal muscle development, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). They found that it acts by controlling the transcription of a muscle-specific microRNA known as miR-1 during the differentiation of muscle precursor cells and skeletal muscle regeneration. Y. Sun, et al., "Mammalian target of rapamycin regulates miRNA-1 and follistatin in skeletal myogenesis," J Cell Biol, 189(7):1157-69, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/lq2hxmk2r6hzkx1/id/4198956/evaluation/sections Denis Guttridge, Ohio State University. #5 Animal extremists pose risk The public is misinformed about the realities and importance of animal testing, a review article argues, and that the scientists conducting the research should play a bigger role is correcting this misunderstanding. D.L. Ringach and J.D. Jentsch, "We must face the threats," J Neurosci, 29(37):11417-8, 2009. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/1z85byf2f5tjjrd/id/1164890/evaluation/sections Matteo Carandini, University College London, S. Murray Sherman, University of Chicago, et al. (17 evaluators). #6 Nameless flowers The number of flowering plants is 10 to 20 percent higher than the current number of documented species, identifying an important source of biodiversity that remains to be discovered. L.N. Joppa, et al., "How many species of flowering plants are there?" Proc Biol Sci, Epub 2010 Jul 7. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/1v5wgyvp6hvv5nv/id/4183956/evaluation/sections Navjot Sodhi, National University of Singapore. #7 Most important plant patents A few of the nearly 2,000 patents in the field of plant transgenic technology are likely the most significant, according to the review, which highlights new advancements and novel approaches in the field, including a number of inventions that engineer plants for higher stress tolerance. X. Yin and Z.J. Zhang, "Recent patents on plant transgenic technology," Recent Pat Biotechnol, 4(2):98-111, 2010. linkurl:Eval by;http://f1000biology.com/article/qw250lfd9h2vmgy/id/4216956/evaluation/sections Ramon Serrano, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia-CSIC, Spain. The F1000 Top 7 is a snapshot of the highest ranked articles from a 30-day period (as of July 29) on Faculty of 1000 among "Hidden Jewel" journals, defined as those that are less obvious. Faculty Members evaluate and rate the most important papers in their field. To see the latest rankings, search the database, and read daily evaluations, visit http://f1000.com.
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Top 7 papers in neuroscience;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57574/
[27th July 2010]*linkurl:Top 7 immunology papers;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57563/
[20th July 2010]*linkurl:Top 7 cell biology papers;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57552/
[13th July 2010]*linkurl:Top 7 biochemistry papers;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57545/
[6th July 2010]

Meet the Author

Jef Akst

Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

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