Shining new light on quorum sensing

Shining new light on the brain

Optogenetics - a new methodology that involves expression of light-responsive proteins in specific groups of neurons, which can then be activated with light - has only been around for six years, but some researchers are already using it to target big psychiatric questions. Michael Gross reports.

Shining a light on optogenetics

O ptogenetics is relatively new and has attracted much interest since the first publications from the field in the early 2000s. Both researchers and the media are fascinated by the notions it conjures of bionic implants. Notwithstanding potential applications, the technology has quickly become an important research tool in neuroscience with potential for developing a range of novel therapeutic ...

Highlight: Shining New Light on Coral Fluorescent Proteins

Scientists can now track how cancer spreads, study cells in the retina, or watch HIV infections progress, thanks to the harnessing and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP). It is fair to say GFP has transformed biomedical research. In fact, Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura, and Roger Tsien received the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their discovery and development of GFP. Despite se...

Vitamin D deficiency: shining new light on the sun nutrient.

Shining a new light on RNA-protein interactions.

Eukaryotic transcripts can be differentially processed, transported, and translated in a myriad of combinations that generate complexity at the protein, cell, and organism level. Such posttranscriptional regulation of eukaryotic gene expression is orchestrated by hundreds of sequencespecific RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), and identifying transcriptome-wide interactions between RBPs and their targ...