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Smooth muscle cells (green) in the wall of a blood vessel. Cheung et al. generate several subtypes of vascular smooth muscle from human pluripotent stem cells (p 165). Credit: R. Bick, B. Poindexter, UT Medical School/Science Photo Library.
Thwarting bioterror by restricting the publication of research on a deadly avian flu virus, or any other potential biothreat for that matter, is doomed to fail.
A method for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into several subtypes of smooth muscle cell should aid the study and treatment of vascular disease.
Large-scale structural genomics and genome-wide association studies generate a wealth of data relevant to human disease. Wang et al. interpret these data in the context of a protein interaction network, showing that systematic analyses of the structural interfaces hit by mutations yield insights into pathogenesis.
Vascular smooth muscle cells have multiple embryological origins. Cheung et al. present a chemically defined protocol for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into vascular smooth muscle subtypes arising from neuroectoderm, lateral plate mesoderm and paraxial mesoderm.
Genetic analysis of agronomic traits in crops is complicated by the long generation times and challenges of growing and phenotyping plants in large field trials. Abe et al. show how whole genome resequencing can be used to identify the genetic basis of subtle phenotypic traits in rice.
Liver toxicity is one of the most common reasons for abandoning new drugs in development or withdrawing approved drugs from the market. Patel et al. show that in mice drug-induced liver injury can be limited by small-molecule inhibitor of the gap-junctional protein connexin 32.
Conjugating drugs to therapeutic antibodies is a promising strategy to increase their therapeutic efficacy. Shen et al. show that the local chemical environment of the conjugation site influences the in vivo stability and efficacy of the modified antibodies.
Baker and colleagues have already shown that protein folding can be turned into an online game played by nonscientists. Now, Foldit players tackle the problem of increasing an enzyme's catalytic activity—with promising results.
