Xenotransplantation under FDA spotlight

Wildlife prospects under spotlight

today with a study showing that it is possible to treat the degenerative brain disorder with cells derived from cloned embryos-a development condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, " the paper reported. " The research was carried out on laboratory mice but scientists believe the findings are proof that the techniques could be applied to humans suffering not just from Parkinson's but a range of ...

Neuronal Inhibition under the Spotlight

In this issue of Neuron,Lin et al. (2015) report an optical method to precisely manipulate the activity of GABAA receptors by designing a mutant receptor that binds photosensitive compounds. This allows for studying GABAA receptors in situ and represents a valuable tool to investigate how inhibition affects brain physiology.

The postdoctoral system under the spotlight.

If there is one thing that most European life scientists agree on, it is that the academic systems in which they work are far from ideal. Good science requires innovation and creativity, but most European academic organizations and funding agencies have rigid and hierarchical structures that do little to foster intellectual independence among young researchers. Scientists from these countries l...

Stress under the sun: spotlight on ultraviolet-B responses.

The UV-B spectral band (280–315 nm) contributes less than 2% of the short-wave photons received by terrestrial organisms in most natural environments. Concerns about potential impacts of stratospheric ozone depletion contributed to spark interest in studies of plant responses to enhanced UV-B levels during the last two decades (Caldwell et al., 2003). In connection with this research, two relat...

Hong Kong under WHO spotlight after flu outbreak.