Sources:

Sources may not be available for all articles

First Peek at DNA Transcription

Atomic force microscope images show an enzyme molecule straddling a strand of DNA and pulling it along to complete the transcription phase of manufacturing proteins in cells.

Sources:

Carlos Bustamante
Institute of Molecular Biology
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403

Neil H. Thomson
Physics Department
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Eye pigments may depend on one amino acid

Changing one amino acid in light-sensitive pigments alters their molecular properties.

Sources:

Clint Makino
Department of Ophthalmology
Harvard University Medical School
243 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
E-mail: cmakino@meei.harvard.edu

Yoshinori Shichida
Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science
Kyoto University
Kyoto 606-01
Japan

Conscience grows on temperamental ground

Children take different paths in developing an internal guide to right and wrong behavior, depending on how well early temperament meshes with a mother's child-rearing practices.

Sources:

Avshalom Caspi
Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre
Institute of Psychiatry
De Crespigny Park
London SE5 8AF
England

Grazyna Kochanska
Department of Psychology
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Swapping insulin syringes for tiny beads

Coating substances with plastics that cling to tissue and slowly erode holds promise as a way to deliver medicines.

Sources:

Philip Cryer
American Diabetes Association
1660 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

Judith H. Greenberg
National Institutes of Health
Natcher Building, Room 2AS-25J
45 Center Drive, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200

Robert Langer
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering
Cambridge, MA 02139

Edith Mathiowitz
Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912

Meteorite still holds inklings of life

Researchers discuss the latest findings about the possibility that traces of ancient, primitive life remain in a Martian meteorite.

New glucose test on the way for diabetes

A novel polymer offers the possibility of lowering the cost and increasing the reliability of blood-sugar monitoring.

Sources:

American Diabetes Association
1660 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Website: http://www.diabetes.org/ada/info.html

Frances H. Arnold
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
210-41
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
E-mail: frances@cheme.caltech.edu
Website: http://www.che.caltech.edu/groups/fha/

George S. Wilson
Higuchi Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045

Newfound gene linked to several cancers

Investigators have found a single gene whose inactivation may contribute to a variety of cancers, including a rare malignancy that affects the brain and a common form of breast cancer.

Sources:

Ramon Parsons
College of Physicians & Surgeons
Columbia University
630 W. 168th Street
New York, NY 10032

Peter A. Steck
Department of Neuro-Oncology
The Brain Tumor Center
University of Texas
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
1515 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030

Bert Vogelstein
Johns Hopkins Oncology Center
424 N. Bond Street
Baltimore, MD 21231

Florida manatees' future: Grim or golden?

A population viability analysis of Florida's manatees paints a precarious future for the animals.

Sources:

Chip Deutsch
Sirenia Project
Biological Resources Division
412 N.E. 16th Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32601

Thomas J. O'Shea
Biological Resources Division
U.S. Geological Survey
4512 McMurry Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80525

Research Notes:

Astronomy

Callisto conundrum

Close-up images of small patches of Callisto's surface reveal that this icy Jovian moon is curiously devoid of small and midsize craters.

Sources:

Clark R. Chapman
Southwest Research Institute
1050 Walnut Street
Boulder, CO 80302-5143

Biomedicine

Study casts doubt on breast self-exam

Malignant tumors are detected at the same rate in a self-exam group as in a control group.

Sources:

David B. Thomas
Program in Epidemiology
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1124 Columbia Street
MP-474
Seattle, WA 98104

A complicating view of breast implants

One-quarter of all women with breast implants develop serious complications.

Sources:

Sherine Gabriel
Mayo Clinic
200 First Street, S.W.
Rochester, MN 55905

Earth Science

When glaciers covered the entire Earth

Twice in the planet's distant past, ice ages have engulfed the globe.

Sources:

David Evans
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
170-25
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125

Alan J. Kaufman
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138

Searching for life in fire and ice

Scientists are gearing up to hunt for microbes hiding out in unusual places.

Sources:

S. Kim Juniper
GEOTOP
Universite du Quebec a Montreal
1200 St. Alexandre, Suite 2025
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3P8
Canada

Mike Purdy
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230

Physics

Particle tracking and liquid flow

Tracking the erratic path of a microsphere immersed in a tiny volume of fluid allows researchers to determine the liquid's flow properties.

Sources:

Thomas G. Mason
Department of Chemical Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
221 Maryland Hall
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218

Cooking up carbon doughnuts

The ends of a cylindrical carbon nanotube can join to form a doughnut-shaped ring.

Sources:

Richard E. Smalley
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology
Rice University
6100 Main Street
MS 100
Houston, TX 77005
E-mail: res@cnst.rice.edu

Probing atomic migration in thin wires

Researchers can use X-ray microbeams to track atomic rearrangements in narrow wires and measure stress buildup during electromigration.

Sources:

G. Slade Cargill III
Department of Chemical Engineering
Columbia University
500 W. 120th Street
New York, NY 10027
E-mail: GSC15@columbia.edu

Articles:

Deep Dwellers

Microbes thrive far below ground

Once considered sterile, Earth's deep crust turns out to be rife with life.

Sources:

James Fredrickson
Environmental Microbiology
Pacific Northwest Laboratory
Richland, WA 99352

Tullis C. Onstott
Department of Geosciences
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544

Karsten Pedersen
Department of General and Marine Microbiology
Goteborg University
Medicinaregatan 9C
S 413 90 Goteborg
Sweden

Forbidden Flavors

Scientists consider how disgusting tastes can linger surreptitiously in memory

The tendency of a wide variety of animals to avoid food or drink associated with nausea has spawned research into the biology of taste aversion, predator control, social communication about dangerous food, and anorexia nervosa.

Sources:

Federico Bermudez-Rattoni
Instituto de Fisiologia Celular
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Apartado postal
04510 Mexico

Stuart R. Ellins
Department of Psychology
California State University
San Bernardino, CA 92407

Bennett G. Galef
Department of Psychology
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1
Canada

John Garcia
1950-A Chilberg Road
Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Joan C. Gustavson
Center for Environmental Studies
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85102

Bruce R. Moore
Department of Psychology
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS B3H 4J1
Canada