Research Highlights in 2011

A digital platform has been created to incorporate multiple brain data resources into a common global mouse atlas.

An image-analysis technique deconvolutes combinations of labels, revealing which bacteria are where in microbial communities.

Illuminating cells through tiny transparent pillars permits spatially confined excitation of fluorescent molecules.

Two recent reports demonstrate the first applications of X-ray free-electron lasers to look at biological structures.

Reference datasets of gene expression and DNA methylation in human pluripotent stem cell lines are reported.

Analyzing brain signals from freely moving rodents in the wild is possible using a wireless neural recording system.

Gene expression in bacteria can be modulated in response to unnatural amino acids with engineered transcriptional systems.

A label-free microscopy technique based on electrochemical impedance offers a new way of studying electrochemical processes in single cells.

The comprehensive mapping of transcripts, histone modifications and transcription factor binding allows for the functional annotation of fly and worm genomes.

Researchers describe a method called bleach-chase to quantitatively measure the half-lives of fluorescently tagged proteins in human cancer cells.

An optimized transcription activator–like effector (TALE) and an improved assembly method promise efficient genome editing and transcriptome modulation.

Caenorhabditis elegans can be used to probe the mechanistic basis for cell-fate conversion.

Next-generation sequencing platforms provide both high-throughput sequencing and DNA production.

Pluripotent stem cells form intestine-like structures in vitro.

In-depth mass spectrometric analysis reveals how cells survive stress by coordinating various enzymes that modify RNAs involved in protein synthesis.

RNA-based regulatory systems control the behavior of cells in response to endogenous proteins.

Two approaches using either fosmid clones or a microfluidic device are used to tackle the challenge of a haplotype-resolved human genome.