The Scientist

Opinion: Occupy Science?

Biomedical research can learn from citizen science, which is grounded in strong relationships with study participants.

Eye Trials Give Hope for Stem Cells

Preliminary data from human embryonic stem cell trials for two degenerative eye disorders are promising, but challenges remain for more complex tissues.

Members of an Emergency Medical Technician team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, undergo training required for certification as rescue and decontamination unit responders to hazardous material and toxic contamination situations.Wikimedia Commons, FEMA Photo Library

A Call to Stop H5N1 Research

Three dozen researchers have signed a letter promising to halt dangerous bird flu research for 2 months to initiate safety discussions.

Before the Genes Jumped, 1930s

How Nobel Laureate Barbara McClintock nearly gave up genetics for meteorology

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News & Opinions

Covering the life sciences inside and out

Virus phage λ Brian D. Wade and Alicia Pastor, Center for Advanced Microscopy, MSU

The Making of a Trait

By Megan Scudellari

Populations of organisms acquire beneficial traits repeatedly and rapidly through co-evolution with other species and through gene interaction.

The Breast Implant Risk

By Hannah Waters

Breast implants leaking contaminated silicone are causing a fuss in Europe, but all breast implants carry risks.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.Wikimedia Commons, Janice Haney Carr, CDC

Antimicrobial Cross-Resistance Risk

By Sabrina Richards

Bacteria that evolve resistance to antimicrobial therapies may be able to evade natural immune peptides.

Opinion: Occupy Science?

By Krishanu Saha and J. Benjamin Hurlbut

Biomedical research can learn from citizen science, which is grounded in strong relationships with study participants.

The Nutshell

Daily News Roundup

Ind. Senators Vote for Creationism

A committee in the Indiana state legislature OKs a bill aimed at getting creationism into public school science classes.

Chemicals Undermine Vaccines?

Perfluorinated compounds, a class of manufacturing chemicals, may be harming the immune system in a way that reduces the effectiveness of standard childhood vaccines.

Breast Implants Arrest Made

A producer of unapproved silicone breast implants is arrested by French authorities.

Caffeine Affects Estrogen Levels

Moderate caffeine intake is associated with higher estrogen levels for Asians, but lower levels for whites.

H5N1 Researcher Speaks Out

Japanese virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, who led one of the recent studies on avian flu transmissibility, says that type of research is necessary.

Current Issue

January 2012

Resolving Chronic Pain

The body’s own mechanism for dispersing the inflammatory reaction might lead to new treatments for chronic pain.

Animal Mind Control

Examples of parasites that manipulate the behavior of their hosts are not hard to come by, but scientists have only recently begun to understand how they induce such dramatic changes.