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Scientists may have finally developed the techniques to reconstruct complete wiring diagrams for the neuronal circuitry of the human brain. Nathan Blow reports.
PCR—the workhorse of modern molecular biology—is charging forward using both conventional and digital methods to explore single cells and even single molecules. Nathan Blow reports.
Fluorescence-based reagents are quickly evolving to keep pace with the demands of many research disciplines that have grown to depend on them. Caitlin Smith takes a look at recent developments.
Companies and academic researchers are developing more and more microfluidic devices. But what the technology stakeholders really want is an application that will trigger widespread adoption of microfluidics by biologists. Nathan Blow reports.
High-throughput screening, traditionally the domain of big pharmaceutical companies, is now creeping into academic laboratories in the guise of chemical genomics. Though the technique can be demanding and expensive, it is already yielding impressive results, as Alan Dove finds out.
Engineering the replication of target DNA through cloning, or changing its genetic code through mutations, are detail-oriented processes whose foibles can spell disaster. Caitlin Smith looks at some new tools and techniques that may smooth the road to a successful experiment.
As the gap between the amount of data and the tools for analysis continues to grow, biologists are looking to mathematical modeling to turn data sets into biology. This is bad news for those who studied biology to avoid mathematics—but take heart, the tools are getting better and easier to use, and the best of them are now being used in some inspiring ways. Steven Buckingham reports.
As protein chemistry becomes faster and more automated, a few tough problems in purification and analysis still remain. Incremental evolution in chromatography and revolutionary developments in other techniques are finally starting to lower some of the field's highest hurdles. Alan Dove reports.
From mutagenesis to gene therapy for hemophilia, transposons—mobile genetic elements—have proven themselves innovative tools in the laboratory and the clinic. Caitlin Smith takes a look at some present offerings of transposon products and the promise of applications.
Advances in crystallographic methods, the rise of nuclear magnetic resonance, and the blossoming of global structural genomics initiatives have helped to fuel a renaissance in the development of methods for high-resolution protein structural biology. Michael Eisenstein reports.
Getting cultured cells to 'do their job'—either to recreate in vivo function in an artificial setting or to churn out immense volumes of protein on command—requires both an understanding of the demands of cell physiology and the technology to meet those demands. Michael Eisenstein looks at contemporary solutions for culture conundrums.
They may be tiny, but microRNAs show strength in numbers and by exerting a surprising amount of influence over the expression of many genes. In the space of just a few years, the identification and analysis of microRNAs has become a boom industry, necessitating new tools and techniques suitable for such small targets. Michael Eisenstein reports.
More and more scientists now see advantages in automating some of their more repetitive or error-prone tasks. Michael Eisenstein takes a look at systems that are helping to bring robotics into the academic and clinical research laboratory.
Antibodies remain a favorite tool for both basic and clinical research, but investigators are always on the lookout for new and faster ways to obtain more effective reagents. Michael Eisenstein takes a look at current strategies for building a better antibody.
A new generation of fluorescent reagents offers researchers unprecedented visual access to the inner workings of cells—and even live animals. Michael Eisenstein examines the latest tools for live-cell and in vivo optical imaging.
The main application of microarrays is gene expression analysis, but other uses for these arrays continue to grow in popularity. Laura Bonetta reports on the use of this technology to analyze other entities, from carbohydrates to tissue samples.
If you want to silence a single gene with relative ease, look no further than RNA interference (RNAi). Fast becoming the knockdown method of choice in many systems, RNAi reagents such as commercial small inhibitory RNAs (siRNAs) and specialized media are now widely available to streamline your work. Caitlin Smith sizes up some of the new tools available for RNAi.
Analysis of gene expression is critical to understanding the molecular underpinnings of normal and disease processes. Although in recent years the field has been flooded with microarray data, a multitude of non–array-based methods for studying the expression of genes are on the market. Laura Bonetta takes a look at them.
Proteins can be subjected to a wide variety of targeted post-translational modifications that will considerably modulate their function. Fortunately, several new technologies have emerged to assist in identification and analysis of these modifications, shedding new light on an important layer of proteomic complexity. Caitlin Smith reports.
