Featured
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News |
China tackles surge in mental illness
Psychological examinations to be added to selection procedure for government officials.
- David Cyranoski
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Perspective |
From maps to mechanisms through neuroimaging of schizophrenia
- Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
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News |
Vaccine offers meningitis hope
First affordable and effective weapon against killer meningococcal meningitis A rolled out in Africa.
- Declan Butler
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Article |
Direct conversion of human fibroblasts to multilineage blood progenitors
Mouse fibroblasts expressing a small subset of transcription factors can be induced to differentiate towards specified lineages without reverting to an embryonic state. Now direct conversion of dermal fibroblasts to multipotent blood progenitors has been achieved in vitro in the human, using just one factor.
- Eva Szabo
- , Shravanti Rampalli
- & Mickie Bhatia
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News |
Bisphenol A goes through the skin
Till receipts are a potential source of exposure to the controversial chemical.
- Daniel Cressey
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Books & Arts |
Developmental biology: The whole nine months
Michael Sargent examines the evidence that pre-birth experiences shape our lives.
- Michael Sargent
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News |
Star Wars-style holograms: a new hope?
Novel plastic could enable real-time 3D holographic projections.
- Zeeya Merali
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Letter |
Reducing excessive GABA-mediated tonic inhibition promotes functional recovery after stroke
Following a stroke, there is generally limited functional recovery, but plasticity in adjacent intact areas may be critical to rehabilitation. These authors report that tonic GABAA inhibition is elevated in cortex immediately surrounding the stroke site. Furthermore, genetically or pharmacologically reducing tonic GABAA receptor signalling leads to improved functional and motor recovery in a mouse model of stroke, suggesting that this could be a new pharmacological target for stroke therapy.
- Andrew N. Clarkson
- , Ben S. Huang
- & S. Thomas Carmichael
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News |
Gene therapy helps depressed mice
Revving up expression of a single gene in the brain reverses depression symptoms
- Alla Katsnelson
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News |
Gene-synthesis rules favour convenience
But synthetic DNA standards offer little protection, critics say.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Row over NASA primate-radiation experiment
Controversial test would establish safe radiation-exposure levels for astronauts.
- Adam Mann
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News |
Scientists push for Lyme disease trials
Confusion over correct treatment for persistent symptoms clouds conference.
- Amy Maxmen
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Books & Arts |
Drug development: The invisible front line
The paid participants in phase I clinical trials need more protection, finds Meredith Wadman.
- Meredith Wadman
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News |
US midterm elections: Opponents battle health-care research
Treatment-outcome studies and key health reforms face Republican antipathy and legal challenges.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Cancer-gene testing ramps up
Thousands to get personalized medicine in Britain's National Health Service.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Damaged cell powerhouses linked to Parkinson's
Broken mitochondria may drive the disease, and could provide new therapeutic targets.
- Heidi Ledford
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News Q&A |
A shocking discovery
Susan Reverby describes her finding that several hundred Guatemalans were exposed to syphilis by the US Public Health Service.
- Ivan Semeniuk
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News |
Baby boom bags Nobel prize
UK pioneer of in vitro fertilization wins medicine honour.
- Alison Abbott
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News |
Bone-disease drug could treat breast cancer
Hormone therapy causes cancer through a molecule already implicated in osteoporosis.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Surprise diagnoses for research volunteers
Test scans of the abdomen and brain show high rates of abnormalities.
- Janelle Weaver
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Letter |
Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography at the nanoscale
Ptychographic X-ray imaging is a powerful technique for extracting detailed phase (and hence structural) information from weakly absorbing objects. Here it is shown how this technique can be combined with methods for tomographic reconstruction to generate full three-dimensional maps of the object under investigation. The approach has sensitivity to density variations of less than one per cent, and can resolve structures on the 100 nm length scale.
- Martin Dierolf
- , Andreas Menzel
- & Franz Pfeiffer
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News & Views |
A new phase for X-ray imaging
A fine marriage between two approaches to X-ray microscopy — computed tomography and ptychographic imaging — delivers high-resolution, three-dimensional images of samples without the need for lenses. See Letter p. 436
- Henry N. Chapman
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News Q&A |
California's genetic education
Geneticist Jasper Rine reflects on a controversial gene-testing programme.
- Zoë Corbyn
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Letter |
Transfusion independence and HMGA2 activation after gene therapy of human β-thalassaemia
Disorders caused by abnormal β-globin, such as β-thalassaemia, are the most prevalent inherited disorders worldwide. For treatment, many patients are dependent on blood transfusions; thus far the only cure has involved matched transplantation of haematopoietic stem cells. Here it is shown that lentiviral β-globin gene transfer can be an effective substitute for regular transfusions in a patient with severe β-thalassaemia.
- Marina Cavazzana-Calvo
- , Emmanuel Payen
- & Philippe Leboulch
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Research Highlights |
Microbiology: Bacteria for breakfast
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Books & Arts |
Secrets of a long life
Two books on ageing understate the challenges of prolonging a healthy lifespan, finds Caleb Finch.
- Caleb Finch
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News & Views |
Targeting β-thalassaemia
Patients with disorders of the blood protein haemoglobin often depend on lifelong blood transfusions. That could change, given the success of gene therapy in a patient with one such disorder.
- Derek A. Persons
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News |
US clinics quietly embrace whole-genome sequencing
Physicians are turning to genomic tools to diagnose puzzling conditions.
- Brendan Borrell
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News |
Questions over ghostwriting in drug industry
Analysis claims papers drafted by medical writers downplayed risks of hormone replacement therapy.
- Ewen Callaway
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Research Highlights |
Neuroscience: Electrical cell tuning
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News |
Kids swap DNA for fairground rides
Researchers' efforts to collect samples at a fair raise ethical questions.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Superfast TB test slashes waiting time
Infection with tuberculosis can be diagnosed easily and accurately in less than two hours.
- Apoorva Mandavilli
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Outlook |
Slowing the decline
The search is on for disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson's disease, but, as Ruth Williams discovers, developing a compound is only part of the problem.
- Ruth Williams
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Outlook |
Levodopa: the story so far
Alison Abbott explores the history of the first treatment for Parkinson's disease since its dramatic debut in the swinging sixties.
- Alison Abbott
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Outlook |
Biomarkers: casting the net wide
To have any hope of affecting the course of Parkinson's disease, early diagnosis is essential. Rachel Jones assesses progress so far.
- Rachel Jones
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Outlook |
Treatment frontiers
Cell replacement, gene therapy, and electrical and optical stimulation for the brain — Kerri Smith looks to the future of Parkinson's disease therapies.
- Kerri Smith
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News |
Key Alzheimer's findings questioned
Conflicting results cloud link to prion protein.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Drug flexes muscle against cancer
Decoy protein helps to fight cancer in mice by stopping muscle breakdown.
- Alla Katsnelson
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Editorial |
After the pandemic
Despite some mistakes, the World Health Organization handled the flu outbreak well.
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Careers and Recruitment |
Weighing the options
Comparative-effectiveness research answers questions that could transform medical policy and practice. Tamar Nordenberg examines the opportunities for researchers to find both funding and fulfilment.
- Tamar Nordenberg
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News Feature |
Physiology: The bones of contention
The skeleton may provide more than just structural support. Alla Katsnelson investigates the rise of bone as a metabolic regulator.
- Alla Katsnelson
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News |
High price to pay for misconduct investigations
A single investigation into research malpractice cost US$525,000.
- Eugenie Samuel Reich
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Editorial |
Standard issue
The industry behind direct-to-consumer gene tests needs to establish guidelines for its wares.