Research Highlights in 2009

A new pH nanosensor changes color in acidic cell compartments by forming an unusual four-stranded DNA structure.

By combining methods for selective genome capture, allele enrichment and array resequencing, researchers create a pipeline for high-throughput variant detection.

Researchers integrate proteomics data with genomic-context analysis and develop a protein-function prediction tool to annotate functional orphans in Escherichia coli.

Flying animals ranging from bugs to bats use a common mechanism to maintain control in turns a discovery that reveals hidden advantages of flapping-wing flight.

Researchers develop an approach to selectively isolate and profile cell-surface proteins by targeting the glycopeptides, a strategy that could be used to generate an atlas of cell-surface protein 'barcodes'.

Researchers show that superpositively charged GFP enters mammalian cells with ease and can be used as a nucleic acid delivery vehicle.

Fake fingertips provide insights into how fingerprints help humans to feel fine details of surface texture.

DNA hydrogels improve the efficiency of cell-free protein production.

A new algorithm for identifying evolutionary constraint incorporates information on local DNA topology, and leads to the finding that this topology is conserved across species.

Pairing bisulfite conversion of the human genome with targeted enrichment and high-throughput sequencing allows a quantitative assessment of DNA methylation at base-pair resolution.

By directly delivering light deep into the brain, scientists can now study the basis of neurological therapy and animal behavior.

Combining ribosome profiling and deep sequencing, researchers present a method to monitor protein translation genome-wide.

With the addition of a ligand-sensing aptamer sequence, a self-replicating RNA enzyme system enables general molecular detection, analogous to that of quantitative PCR.

A long-range magnetic resonance imaging platform promises unprecedented capabilities for whole-organ visualization and high-throughput sample analysis.

By covalently attaching cyclodextrin to a hemolysin nanopore, researchers show single-molecule, label-free sequencing at very high accuracy.

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy gets a boost in axial resolution from two groups of optics wizards.

Two groups extend the boundaries of in-cell nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.