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Mass spectrometry is more than ever at the forefront of functional proteomics research. The technology has come a long way, but what does the future hold? Nathan Blow gets perspectives, predictions and wishes from key developers.
Scientists may have finally developed the techniques to reconstruct complete wiring diagrams for the neuronal circuitry of the human brain. Nathan Blow reports.
PCR—the workhorse of modern molecular biology—is charging forward using both conventional and digital methods to explore single cells and even single molecules. Nathan Blow reports.
Fluorescence-based reagents are quickly evolving to keep pace with the demands of many research disciplines that have grown to depend on them. Caitlin Smith takes a look at recent developments.
Companies and academic researchers are developing more and more microfluidic devices. But what the technology stakeholders really want is an application that will trigger widespread adoption of microfluidics by biologists. Nathan Blow reports.
High-throughput screening, traditionally the domain of big pharmaceutical companies, is now creeping into academic laboratories in the guise of chemical genomics. Though the technique can be demanding and expensive, it is already yielding impressive results, as Alan Dove finds out.
Engineering the replication of target DNA through cloning, or changing its genetic code through mutations, are detail-oriented processes whose foibles can spell disaster. Caitlin Smith looks at some new tools and techniques that may smooth the road to a successful experiment.
As the gap between the amount of data and the tools for analysis continues to grow, biologists are looking to mathematical modeling to turn data sets into biology. This is bad news for those who studied biology to avoid mathematics—but take heart, the tools are getting better and easier to use, and the best of them are now being used in some inspiring ways. Steven Buckingham reports.
As protein chemistry becomes faster and more automated, a few tough problems in purification and analysis still remain. Incremental evolution in chromatography and revolutionary developments in other techniques are finally starting to lower some of the field's highest hurdles. Alan Dove reports.
From mutagenesis to gene therapy for hemophilia, transposons—mobile genetic elements—have proven themselves innovative tools in the laboratory and the clinic. Caitlin Smith takes a look at some present offerings of transposon products and the promise of applications.
Advances in crystallographic methods, the rise of nuclear magnetic resonance, and the blossoming of global structural genomics initiatives have helped to fuel a renaissance in the development of methods for high-resolution protein structural biology. Michael Eisenstein reports.
