Lansbury and Caughey state in their Primer on prion proteins [1] “Mice lacking the PrP gene, first produced by Charles Weissmann and colleagues, are viable, but have altered neuronal function and develop neurological abnormalities later in life.” This statement is misleading. The PrP-knockout mice produced in our laboratory [2] do not show neurological abnormalities at any time and we have neve...

In 1980 Mark Ptashne published a review entitled How λ repressor and Cro work followed by another, in 1988, called How eukaryotic transcriptional activators work. The bold — almost, some might feel, naïve — ambition these titles betray is unashamedly the author’s: to generate a coherent picture of how genes are switched on and off. Mark Ptashne’s approach has always been transparent. During gro...

Dr. Sacks' goal is'to humanize medicine; to recognize ihe link between body and soul. In 1970 he published his first book, Migraine, in which he explored the neuropsychiatric omponents of migraine headaches. While completing the book he went to work in a New York hospital where he encountered a group of patients who were to have a profound effect on his life's work. Survivors of the epidemic of...