Getting There
I’m starting to get the hang of this. Today I posted and tagged a gaggle of my writing clips. It sure is nice to be able to filter and sort them according to client and topic! I know, I know–welcome to the 21st century.
Now it’s time to start working on those photo galleries.
From the corner of the eye: Paying attention to attention
Salk Institute | July 5, 2007
Every kid knows that moms have “eyes in the back of their heads.” We are adept at fixing our gaze on one object while independently directing attention to others. Salk Institute neurobiologists are beginning to tease apart the complex brain networks that enable humans and other higher mammals to achieve this feat. read story
More Than Skin Deep
HHMI Bulletin | May 2007
Elaine Fuchs used to do crossword puzzles as a diversion from her undergraduate studies. With crosswords, every solved clue creates new hints to help solve neighboring clues. Fuchs, an HHMI investigator at The Rockefeller University, has followed a similar approach throughout her professional life. By honing each experimental finding into a new set of tools, she has probed deeper into the question that first piqued her curiosity three decades ago. read in full issue (pdf)
Sculpting Brain Connections
HHMI Bulletin | May 2007
Unlike your computer’s memory chips, whose circuits are etched into a solid slab of silicon, real brain circuits change shape as they learn. HHMI investigator Michael D. Ehlers and his colleagues at Duke University are themselves learning how neurons remold their connections, and they may have identified the brain’s favored sculpting tool.
read in full issue (pdf)
Hints from Wnts
HHMI Bulletin | May 2007
When it comes to replenishing lost body parts, some of our distant cousins can teach humans a thing or two. Zebrafish, for example, have no problem regenerating perfect tailfins after being nipped by an aquarium mate—or snipped by an inquisitive doctoral student, like the University of Washington’s Cristi Stoick-Cooper. read in full issue (pdf)
A Pluripotent Stew
HHMI Bulletin | February 2007
Embryonic stem (ES) cells are plain enough to look at, forming a nondescript clump within the hollow ball of an early embryo. But that generic character is key to their magical rejuvenating potential. Unlike all other cells, which are preordained toward a specialized form and function, ES cells have a clean slate. The developing embryo can mold them into any cell type it needs.
When More Is Less
HHMI Bulletin | February 2007
Sugar and spice and X chromosome twice—that’s what girls are made of, despite the fact that this double dollop of X chromosomes can be deadly for females of any species.
read story (pdf)
Sharper Image
HHMI Bulletin | November 2006
Last year, the two inventors—both unemployed at the time—developed an elegant procedure out of an idea they had begun exploring together in the 1990s. Instead of having a muddle of fluorescently labeled proteins glowing at once, sloshing light waves everywhere, they found a way to turn on just a few molecules at a time. read in full issue (pdf)
Stopping a Force of Nature
HHMI Bulletin | August 2006
Telomeres, the long chains of DNA letters capping the ends of chromosomes, seem like a Dr. Seuss creation. What they spell out, in the language of DNA, amounts to gibberish.
read in full issue (pdf)