Entering the “Anthropocene” era

Entering the Extranet Era

TRP channels entering the structural era.

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are important in many neuronal and non-neuronal physiological processes. The past 2 years have seen much progress in the use of structural biology techniques to elucidate molecular mechanisms of TRP channel gating and regulation. Two approaches have proven fruitful: (i) a divide-and-conquer strategy has provided high-resolution structural details of T...

The novel anticoagulants: entering a new era.

During the past five decades, anticoagulant therapy has consisted of rapidly acting parenteral drugs (unfractionated heparin [UFH] low-molecular-weight heparins [LMWH]) for prevention of venous thromboembolism and initial treatment of arterial and venous thromboembolism, whereas vitamin K antagonists (VKA) are used for longer term oral treatment. These drugs act by indirectly inhibiting several...

How Long Have We Been in the Anthropocene Era?

With great interest we have read Ruddiman’s intriguing article which is in favor of placing the start of the Anthropocene at 5–8 millennia BP instead of the late quarter of the 18th century. He shows how land exploitation for agriculture and animal husbandry may have led to enhanced emissions of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere, thereby modifying the expected changes in the concentrations of these...

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: entering a new era.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) describe a heterogeneous group of tumors with a wide range of morphologic, functional, and behavioral characteristics. These tumors are generally slow growing and behave in an indolent fashion. However, they have the potential to spread, primarily to the liver and when they do, they can be life threatening and difficult to treat with current modalities. A subset of ...