Give us a break

Sall4 won’t give stem cells a break

A protein that helps embryonic stem cells (ESCs) retain their identity also induces the cells to repair DNA damage, Xiong et al. report. Fixing broken DNA is particularly important for ESCs because they pass on any mutations to their differentiated descendants. Mouse ESCs are adept at making repairs—they carry far fewer mutations than do differentiated cells—but how they achieve this isn’t clea...

Immortal Strands? Give Me a Break

The "immortal strand" hypothesis proposes that asymmetrically dividing stem cells selectively retain chromosomes containing "old" DNA to prevent accumulation of mutations. As I describe in this Essay, such a possibility seems unlikely. An alternative explanation is that asymmetric cell divisions and cell fate are codirected by epigenetic differences between sister chromatids.

Fetal dendritic cells give mum a break.

Give Us a Chance, Matron

Glare Marc Wallace shows, by her own experience, mat me uuiding profession is no different from any other when it comes to re-employing a member who has been mentally ill I have been an atypical schizophrenic for 12 years, and have been admitted to psychiatric hospital on 17 occasions for short periods during that time. Because of my history, I have had difficulty in getting suitable work. The ...

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The Problem and Partial Solution Today when we launch a software project, its likelihood of success is inversely proportional to its size. The Standish Group reports that the probability of a successful software project is zero for projects costing $10 million or more [1]. This is because the complexity of the problem exceeds one person’s ability to comprehend it. According to The Standish Grou...