Scott Sternson has always wondered what drives behavior, especially those fundamental motivations required for survival. Hunger, for example, is so crucial that it must be evolutionarily “hard-wired” deep within the brain. After all, as Sternson observes, “if the animal doesn’t eat, it dies.” read story
With the help of genetically engineered mice whose livers turned into glowing light bulbs, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have illuminated the underpinnings of an insidious and growing health concern – type II diabetes. read story
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.
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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)
One of Sheng Ding’s favorite activities outside the lab is scrambling up the twisted granite boulders of Southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park. By finding just the right combination of grips, foot placements, and body English, Ding can mold his body to the cracks and outcroppings, surmounting virtually any obstacle he encounters. read in full issue (pdf)