Research Highlights in 2014

Two papers report mass spectrometry–based draft maps of the human proteome and provide broadly accessible resources.

Dinucleotide repeat motifs and transcription factor–binding sites are sufficient to define enhancers.

An electronic, molecular fingerprinting method may lead to an approach to single-molecule protein sequencing.

Spectral confocal reflectance microscopy helps visualize myelinated axons in vivo without any labeling.

Two groups report the derivation of human pluripotent stem cell lines from embryos derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer using adult cells as donors.

Engineering of channelrhodopsin into a Cl⁻ channel creates a powerful tool for light-mediated inhibition of neurons.

Researchers co-opt a DNA sequencer to quantify RNA-protein interactions on a massive scale.

A method enables labeling and detection of newly synthesized proteins in an animal in a tissue- and time-specific manner.

Models are presented of background fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) for non-interacting membrane proteins.

Researchers design a chemical decaging strategy for studying protein function in cells.

Engineered bacteria sense and record conditions in the gut.

Researchers sequence RNA directly within tissue.

A nuclear-transfer technique informed by cell-cycle synchronization could simplify generation of therapeutic stem cells.

A systematic analysis of genome-wide short interfering RNA (siRNA) screens in human cells identifies widespread off-target effects.

A curved beam of light provides microscopists with a new tool to overcome imaging challenges.

Combining 63 annotations provides a unified score for the potential deleteriousness of every possible human mutation.

The power of genetics in the worm, and in the bacteria that worms eat, is harnessed for a systems view of the effect of diet on a host organism.

From single-molecule functional studies to atomic-resolution structures, a windfall of data sheds light on the Cas9 mechanism of targeted DNA scission.

Quick-hybridizing probes help scientists image the high-speed events leading up to gene transcription.

By pushing throughput, single-cell transcript profiling can replace marker-based sorting and bulk RNA sequencing to redefine tissues from the bottom up.