Research Highlights in 2014

Researchers report an optical method to detect and image single proteins without using any labels.

The binding interface of interacting proteins is revealed by a novel 'protein painting' technique.

A tool to find specific footprint signatures on DNA shows that regulatory proteins with short residency time do not leave footprints.

A combination of techniques reveals that aggregate forces from all enzymes active in the cytoplasm result in randomly fluctuating forces throughout the cell.

CRISPR-based gene editing can be scaled up to study the function of sequence variation in the context of native chromatin.

The CellNet platform, based on cell- and tissue-specific gene regulatory networks, is used to evaluate cells converted to a particular fate by various methods.

The protein-RNA specificity code of an RNA-binding protein can be used to target diverse transcripts in the cell for regulation.

A method to study the domain architecture of long noncoding RNAs provides insights into their biological functions.

The red light–sensitive optogenetic inhibitor Jaws enables the modulation of neural activity deep inside the brain.

Genome-editing technologies generally stay on target, but researchers should remain vigilant for variants acquired during experimental manipulation.

An ion-current map characteristic of four nucleotides traversing a protein nanopore allows resequencing of long DNA reads.

Genome engineering skews the sex ratio of malaria-carrying mosquitoes heavily toward males and leads to a population crash.

A simple reporter tracks kinase activity in a living cell.

A combination of experimental protein analysis and imaging techniques is used to create a three-dimensional model of a synaptic bouton.

Silver-based nanoparticles in combination with an etching procedure facilitate the analysis of cellular internalization processes.

Methods to label proteins with carbon nanotubes permit the study of intracellular movement at different timescales.

Expressing four factors in glioblastoma cells can induce a stem cell state, a technique that can improve our understanding of the disease and yield new therapeutic targets.

CRISPR-based transcriptional activators and repressors for synthetic circuits.

Studies from three independent groups address the problem of off-target genomic cleavage in the CRISPR-Cas9 system.

Two recently developed genetically encoded voltage sensors allow scientists to image the activity of defined neuronal populations.