Looking behind the Spreadsheet Trendline

LOOKING TO EUROPE: The Netherlands: regulated competition behind the dykes?

PGC-1α: Looking behind the Sweet Treat for Porphyria

Porphyrias are a group of genetic disorders caused by mutations in enzymes of the heme biosynthesis pathway. Acute attacks of porphyria, reputedly the disease that incapacitated the British sovereign King George III (see this Cell cover), are precipitated by fasting and are treated by infusing heme or glucose, although the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this issue of Cell, H...

Behind the Looking-Glass: A Review on Human Symmetry Perception

The human visual system is highly proficient in extracting bilateral symmetry from visual input. This paper reviews empirical and theoretical work on human symmetry perception with a focus on recent issues such as its neural underpinnings. Symmetry detection is shown to be a versatile, ongoing visual process that interacts with other visual processes. Evidence seems to converge towards the idea...

Interferon and its first clinical trial: looking behind the scenes.

On the morning of 25 March 1980, there was unusual activity at Glasgow airport's Customs. A parcel containing a bottle of the most valuable drug in the world, interferon, had just arrived from Denmark. Hailed as a possible cure for cancer, interferon was intended for the experimental treatment of two young patients with advanced cancer at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.' The ev...

Virtue or Pretense? Looking behind Self-Declared Innocence in Doping

BACKGROUND Social science studies of doping practices in sport rely predominantly on self-reports. Studies of psychoactive drug use indicate that self-reporting is characterised by under-reporting. Likewise doping practice is likely to be equally under-reported, if not more so. This calls for more sophisticated methods for such reporting and for independent, objective validation of its results....