Research highlights archive: December 2002

		Muscular degeneration: Body building best without myostatin Blocking the activity of the protein myostatin could be an attractive therapeutic strategy for the treatment of muscle degeneration diseases. 19 December 2002
		Amyloid diseases: Assembly instructions Protein regions as small as six amino acids in length are all that is needed to turn a normal protein into an amyloid fibril. 19 December 2002
		Biotechnology: Putting a finger on gene expression A designer transcription factor up-regulates specific gene expression and stimulates angiogenesis in a mouse model. 19 December 2002
		Obesity: A high dose of JuNK for fat mice Elevated expression of Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) has a central role in obesity and insulin resistance. 12 December 2002
		Mouse genome: A high-resolution atlas Comparing the gene expression of the fully sequenced and mapped mouse and human chromosomes 21 has identified several candidate genes for Down syndrome. 12 December 2002
		Cellular microbiology: Make yourself at home How the bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease uses a Trojan horse in the cell to avoid the human immune response. 12 December 2002
		Alzheimer's disease: Vaccine revisited Studies give new hope in the search for a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease. 6 December 2002
		Therapeutics: Breaking down barriers How inhibiting a transporter can allow Taxol (paclitaxel) to cross the blood-brain barrier and treat tumours. 6 December 2002
		Colorectal cancer: Know your place Two reports show how dysregulation of the Wnt pathway could lead to colorectal cancer. 6 December 2002