Quotes previously featured on the F1000Prime home page.
… this study provides strong evidence that individual differences in anatomy and functional circuitry of brain regions associated with memory formation predict math tutoring outcomes …
Neuroimaging Faculty Member Lutz Jäncke recommends a paper demonstrating that arithmetic ability can be predicted by underlying neurophysical features that are present before math tutoring has taken place.
More is not necessarily better.
Rafael Zardoya and Diego San Mauro highlight an assessment of concatenation and bootstrapping in phylogenomics and suggestions for improvement in this area.
…indicates that the silencing of disease genes is close to coming to the stage of clinical practice for human genetic neurodegenerative disease…
Stefano Di Donato highlights a phase 1 clinical trial that investigated the potential of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology to cure neurodegenerative disease associated with genetic mutations.
…not all real estate in the brain is created equal when it comes to mediating behaviour.
Kerry Ressler and Brian Das on the dorso-ventral topography of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, with different regions having distinct non-overlapping roles in behaviour.
…provides a compelling argument for the idea that components of the inflammatory response are essential for vertebrate limb regeneration.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Ken Muneoka highlights a paper showing that macrophages are required for adult salamander limb regeneration.
…a fascinating illustration of the complex but elusive systems of below-ground plant-microbe-herbivore communication.
“In a cleverly designed experiment”, reports F1000Prime Faculty Member Nico M van Straalen, the authors of an exceptional article find that underground signals carried through common mycelial networks warn neighbouring plants of aphid attack.
This article points to a great dilemma and taboo in the organ donation field.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Rik Gerritsen draws attention to a controversial article that reports that countries with a high number of organ donors per million inhabitants also have very high brain death rates.
Pathoetiology of multiple sclerosis: are we barking up the wrong tree?
In a recently published F1000Prime Reports article F1000Prime Faculty Member Peter Stys puts forward evidence for and against current models. He also speculates that, in contrast to the accepted view, it is equally likely that multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease that secondarily elicits an autoimmune response, and he suggests how this might influence therapeutic approaches.
…small molecule modulators of protein function are inherently promiscuous.
F1000 Faculty Member Peter Bernstein comments on an exceptional paper showing that the formation of (binding) pockets in protein structures is an inherent property arising from the fundamental “geometric, physical, and chemical properties of proteins”.
The authors also conjecture on how these properties link to the “origin of the biochemical processes needed for life”.
Hacker culture meets genomics in this paper … it is certainly not for the faint of heart …
Chemical Biology Faculty Member Jonathan Scolnick takes a look at a paper published in BioTechniques that presents a ‘hack’ allowing the Illumina Genome Analyser (GA) to be run on a lane-to-lane basis. As Dr Scolnick puts it, this technique has the potential to turn the GA into “a MiSeq sequencer on steroids”.
Think you’re so special? Think again, suggests this short but thought-provoking review of the uniqueness (or not) of the human cortex.
Faculty Member Kent Berridge commenting on an article from Trends in Cognitive Sciences that debunks the myth of human exceptionalism.
This is a seminal paper on the value of a vaccine for herpes zoster (shingles) in the US.
Faculty Member Hywel Williams recommends an article that describes the effectiveness of the Herpes zoster (shingles) vaccine. The article concludes that the vaccination is associated with a reduction in post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN).
This paper defines novel regulatory elements that the authors call ‘super-enhancers’, which are like regular enhancers on steroids.
Faculty Member Michael Cole and his associates discuss the selective inhibition of tumor oncogenes by the disruption of ‘super-enhancers’. These observations have implications for the discovery of cancer therapeutics directed at components of super-enhancers in diverse tumor types.
In summary, health care coverage alone is not sufficient to make the US healthier.
Alexander Tsai highlights that a randomized, controlled study of Medicaid, the US health program for families and individuals with low income and resources, showed no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years.
Selfish neurons = selfish monkeys?
Andrew Bell highlights an article demonstrating that monkeys were less willing to work for reward when their work also benefited another non-working monkey. Surprisingly, evidence of this selfish behaviour was reflected in the activity of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex.
The next challenge is whether these molecular “watch makers” can assemble these components into an operating nanoscale machine.
Engineering wireframe scaffolds of increasing complexity is one of the important challenges in nanotechnology. In this paper highlighted by P Shing Ho, a newly designed system that assembles into DNA gridiron-type structures is described, opening up the field to multilayer 3D structures.
Allow me to preface this evaluation with the following statement: this article is ahead of its time.
Anthony Benedetto and Khaled Hassan highlight a novel pathway for the development and immune evasion of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Biology seems to act like a rich snob on a shopping spree: ‘Quality is all, price be damned!’
Philip Coffino on protein quality control, where nascent proteins are co-translationally marked for destruction.
Ticks and blood transfusions are becoming unfortunate bedfellows.
F1000Prime Member Lyle Petersen highlights a recent case report describing the first confirmed example of transfusion transmission of Ehrlichia ewingii, a bacterial infection that is typically spread by lone-star ticks.
…the brain may not be as complicated as feared.
F1000Prime Faculty Member John Lisman reporting on a large-scale model of the functioning brain.
…an important first step in assessing the potentially large impacts of invasive earthworms on greenhouse gas emissions.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Lee Frelich reports on a recent paper showing that even the humble earthworm may have an impact on climate change.
…points to a prominent role played by the local environment in determining the pace of aging in neurons.
A recent PNAS article recommended by F1000Prime Members Benedikt Berninger and Matteo Bergami reports that the lifespan of neurons is uncoupled from organismal lifespan.
The author challenges the textbook theories of evolution and points the way to a reintegration of physiology with evolutionary biology.
F1000Prime Member James Duffin on a review article in Experimental Physiology that describes how physiological function and interactions with the environment are providing a more complex view of evolution than the ‘gene-centric’ concepts of the mid-twentieth century.
A key insight has been to study circuits that mediate critical behaviors, such as eating, sex and aggression, which are ancient, hypothalamic in origin, yet as modern as Saturday night.
Neuroscience Faculty Member William Colmers recommends a recent article in Neuron that reviews the applications of molecular genetic, optogenetic, and pharmacogenetic approaches in understanding the neural circuitry that underlies complex behaviour.
What weapons do bacteria use for interspecies bacterial warfare?
Microbiology Faculty Member Drusilla Burns recommends an article in Nature that takes a look at a diverse family of phospholipases used by bacteria in intra- and interspecies conflict, with implications for novel antimicrobials and therapeutic targets.
…crocodile head scales are not developmental units that differentiate and grow from a primordium.
A recommendation from Valerie Horsley and Ana Tadeu of an article in Science on the origin of crocodile head scales, which suggests they are generated from stochastic cracking rather than a specific developmental process.
Advising women to avoid acidic fruit to prevent or improve incontinence has little merit…
Mary H Palmer recommends an article that shows there is no association detected between acidic fruit intake and urinary incontinence (UI). Implications of these findings include possible reassessments of evidence-based dietary guidelines around acidic fruits and UI, particularly because acidic fruits have many health benefits.
The implications of these findings for the burgeoning field of affective neuroscience with particular focus on the development of social skills post puberty in humans are significant.
Faculty Member Jane Holmes Bernstein recommends an article that suggests pubertally born cells located outside of the traditional neurogenic regions differentiate into neurons and glia and become functionally incorporated into neural circuits that subserve sex-typical behaviors.
Hitchhikers along the axonal highway: this notable study reveals retrograde transport of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) in motor neurons.
Infectious Diseases Faculty Member Patrick McNutt and his associate Kyle Hubbard provide details of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) transport within neurons, which will aid the development of therapies to rescue patients from intoxication with BoNTs.
Yoga seems to improve anxiety, quality of life and also arrhythmia burden in patients with atrial fibrillation…
Cardiovascular Disorders Faculty Member Jan Amlie highlights the potential impact of yoga for patients with atrial fibrillation in the YOGA My Heart Study. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00798356).
Can fish be antisocial? Apparently so and just like some humans!
Pharmacology & Drug Discovery Faculty Member David Triggle on the implications of a Swedish study that examined the effects of dilute concentrations of oxazepam (a psychiatric drug) found in contaminated water systems.
This review helped me to appreciate strengths and weaknesses of published research, and thus is an important addition to the literature.
This article, “Effect size, confidence interval and statistical significance: a practical guide for biologists,” is a rare one relevant to all of Biology and Medicine. Mellar Davis and Ryan Chisholm say it “provides some practical guidelines for how to calculate and interpret effect sizes and confidence intervals”.
What is it like to be a bat?
F1000Prime Faculty Member Fyodor Urnov muses on Thomas Nagel’s famous question, which now acquires a novel perspective from a recent article by Guojie Zhang et al..
Now to solve even more challenging emotions; anyone for remorse?
Jonathan Seckl and Anjanette Harris recommend a study examining the interplay of facial expression processing by the amygdala and the inferior temporal cortex, performed with rhesus macaques.
Can an FDA ‘blackbox warning’ for HES products be far ahead?
Another nail in the coffin for hydroxyethyl starch (HES) solution in volume resuscitation for critically ill patients. John Doyle elucidates part of the story behind this recommended change in clinical practice.
The title gets one’s anticipations up for a ripsnorter of a controversy and the main text does not disappoint.
William Martin describes an article discussing the controversial ENCODE theory that more than 80% of the human genome is functional. The authors of the article label the theory “absurd”.
…further evidence for the link between opioid pathways and the consumption of palatable diets…
This paper, recommended by Faculty Members Julian Mercer and Michelle Murphy, takes a look at the neurological basis of binge-eating addiction.
How long can we afford to keep shooting at wrong targets?
Faculty Members Ron Pearl and Jim Wong comment on a recent study on the ‘6 a.m.’ quality measure for glycemic control in cardiac patients, the findings of which suggest that this benchmark has little impact on patient outcomes.
… researchers should not simply assume that we are studying what we think we are when using animal models.
Mouse models poorly mimic human inflammatory diseases, according to a paper highlighted by five Faculty Members. The study raises questions as to whether the current animal models for human disease are appropriate, and whether new models should to be identified.
Cane toads! Is there any way of stopping their march across northern Australia?
This paper recommended by Mark Lonsdale and Hazel Ruth Parry uses spatial modeling to suggest an economically and technically feasible solution.
These results paint a picture of how the brain and peripheral clocks communicate …
Charalambos Kyriacou highlights a study that identified a transcription factor binding sequence that is rhythmically sensitive to human sera. This may have relevance for ‘circadian-opathies’ such as metabolic syndrome and sleep disturbances.
Similar experiments should be performed for all transcription factors!
Jim Maher comments on how to study transcription factors that bind DNA and RNA.
As a practical tool for molecular manipulations, haploids get you more bang for your buck…
Malcolm Whiteway on a discovery that may revolutionize Candida research: the characterization of viable haploids.
…all the information needed to make Einstein or Picasso is loaded into a single cell.
Sue Malcolm comments on an innovative approach to data storage, using synthetic DNA, with 100% accuracy of reconstructed files being demonstrated.
…true aspirin resistance may be rarer than previously believed.
Several F1000 Faculty Members identify a recent paper published in Circulation that reports on an unintended consequence of enteric coating aspirin.
Fecal transplantation was so successful that the clinical trial was terminated early.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Daniel Remick commenting on a recent NEJM article that ‘Changes Clinical Practice’. Remick goes on to say that “Physicians should consider offering fecal transplantation to patients with difficult-to-treat Clostridium difficile infections.”
Does a cut-off point exist, a transcultural and transpersonal one, beyond which a pregnant artist cannot sing?
Faculty Member Andrea Ricci Maccarini, Alfonso Gianluca Gucciardo and Flavio Pieri discuss the changes the voice undergoes during the third trimester of pregnancy.
The ultimate altruism is dying to save others.
Faculty Member Eva Kisdi recommends a paper that uses both experiments and mathematical modelling to explain how bacteria save their neighbours, who are likely their kin, by stopping infection at the cost of their own death.
In the post-genomic world, the best science is still often driven by ideas, rather than expensive equipment.
Faculty Member Lars Chittka commenting on the discovery published in Current Biology that Dung beetles use the Milky Way for orientation.
…tools without ideas are a corpse; ideas without tools are a ghost.
Ferdinando Boero comments on an editorial piece that discusses how scientific progress is being driven by technological advancements rather than thought experiments, challenging the Kuhnian notion that scientific progress arises from abstract ideas that influence paradigm shifts.
…information that can be obtained from living human eyes continues to astound me.
F1000 Faculty Member Carol Toris highlights a study that demonstrates the impact ciliary muscle movement has on the development and progression of myopia.
The liver of a heavy drinker is a complex ‘chemical soup’…
Philip Burcham a study that investigated the effects of binge drinking on the liver by looking at the role of the cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) system in alcoholic liver disease.
A view that encompasses the implications of complex interactions serves both our science and our humanity.
William Li highlights a broadly relevant and interesting article discussing the “implications of interactions for science and philosophy”, in light of the reductionism that continues to dominate these fields.
…allows female crickets to avoid previous mates without needing to remember a single thing about them.
Bryan Neff and Tim Hain explain how female crickets use a hydrocarbon signature to tag males they have mated with in the past.
“…this paper illustrates new roles for death receptors (indicating that a name isn’t everything)…”
F1000 Faculty Member Stuart Tobet and his associate Krystle Frahm review an article that suggests cell death receptors DR6 and TROY, contrary to their title, actually signal together for normal angiogenesis and blood brain barrier development.
…this is a fascinating hypothesis that could potentially explain a long-standing mystery in animal behavior.
F1000 Faculty Member Randy Nelson and his associate Zachary Weil evaluate a very recent article that proposes a novel evolutionary explanation for homosexual behavior across animal phyla.
The initial surprise over this finding is rapidly replaced by glee over the ingenuity of Mother Nature…
F1000 Faculty Member Fyodor Urnov comments on “a superb example of Darwinism” whilst evaluating a paper on two bat species that has evolved both the ability to fly and to protect its genome from the metabolic penalty of doing so.
…increased levels of a mitotic checkpoint protein, BubR1, promote healthy ageing in mice.
A recent paper, selected by F1000 Faculty Member Ian Hickson and Associate Hocine Mankouri, in which the data imply that preventing mitotic defects could be an important mechanism to maintain healthy ageing in humans.
This is an instant classic in practical statistics and should be read by all scientists in training.
F1000 Faculty Members Richard Born and Hans van Beek bring to our attention an article demonstrating very nicely how scientists may deceive themselves, driven by their (unconscious) desire to report statistically significant findings.
…a very nice map showing where you don’t want to live if you are an amphibian (e.g. Lisboa, Seattle…).
F1000 Faculty Member Kevin Lafferty highlights a paper on a fungal pandemic that is killing amphibians.
A fascinating article describing a beaching behavior, of the European freshwater catfish.
Faculty Member Matthias Maiwald on the unique predatory technique of the European catfish, reported in PLoS one.
…a remarkable example of a lab-on-a-molecule.
James Canary and Yu Liu on the development of a single molecule with four fluorophores and several binding units that can act as a sensor for the detection of different medicines.
I love this piece! A little bit of a spoof, but also a well-crafted educational tool for … a critical eye.
Rona Levy flags the much publicized piece on the association between chocolate consumption and Nobel prize winners that was recently published in the NEJM.
That cells would express proteins that have the propensity to form highly toxic amyloid seems rather suicidal.
Karin Romisch highlights an article that explores how some proteins inactivate harmful bacteria by a process of agglutination during infection, which involves the formation of amyloid aggregates.
…video distraction could be a useful strategy for achieving smooth anesthesia induction in children.
A quote from F1000Prime Faculty Member Laszlo Vutskits commenting on pediatric subjects who become less anxious at anesthesia induction when video clips are played beforehand.
A strong conclusion has emerged from this 7000-patient study… starches should not be used in septic patients
F1000Prime Faculty Member Scott Brudney and Associate Faculty Member Srinivas Pyati highlight an article from N Engl J Med that has been tagged in F1000Prime as ‘Changes Clinical Practice’ and that compares hydroxyethyl starch with saline for fluid resuscitation in intensive care.
Demonstrates that H-Ras plays a central role…to control excessive alcohol consumption.
F1000 Faculty Member Gregg Homanics highlights a paper from J Neurosci in which the investigators used a variety of techniques in mice and rats to convincingly demonstrate that accumbal H-Ras activity is a central regulator of ethanol-induced adaptive processes that are critical for the development of excessive alcohol-drinking behaviors.
Aptamers could become popular tools for further purposes in forensic application.
Faculty Member Sabine Müller recommends an article describing a new forensic application for aptamers: the detection of latent fingermarks.
September and October saw the best example yet of on-the-fly use of genomics for public health.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Arnab Pain and Associate Faculty Member Grant Hill-Cawthorne commenting on the development of an effective assay for a new coronavirus within 3 months of the presentation of the index patient.
That the transpososome looks just like a pair of scissors is a marvelous cosmic joke.
F1000Prime Faculty Member Manju Hingorani shares the joke from a recommended paper uncovering the Mu transpososome structure.
This study vividly distinguishes genotoxicity/carcinogenicity from inflammation.
James Goedert, one of four F1000Prime Faculty Members to recommend this important paper uncovering the interplay between inflammation and gut colonization with genotoxic bacteria.
Belts and braces (suspenders in US parlance) are, as ever, key words in biology.
How circadian clock mechanisms and neural excitability interact is described in this paper from Mizrak et al., recommended by Neuroscience Faculty member Michael Hastings.
…quite often there is no such thing as a gene because: ‘now you see them, now you don’t'!
Erich Bornberg on a yeast study that looked at de novo gene formation.
… this strategy may provide an economically viable method for next-generation liquid fuel production.
Justin Chalker on a strategy for the production of transportation fuels from sugar cane.
This elegant study paves the way to provide a new source of germ cells for many potential applications.
John Gurdon, 2012 Nobel Prize Winning F1000 Faculty Member, along with his Associate Kei Miyamoto, recommend an article describing how the authors used embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to create oocytes that were capable of making viable embryos.
Probably, the true diversity of ‘life’… is yet to be uncovered.
F1000 Faculty Members Marlene Belfort and Olga Novikova comment on “multiple levels of molecular parasites within parasites” with the discovery of the new transpoviron class of transposable elements.
…as with all things biological, the devil is in the detail.
Tim Underwood and Fergus Noble highlight an article in which the authors’ meta-analysis of a small number of studies may have uncovered a link between oral bisphosphonates and oesophageal cancer, but wider and more detailed studies are needed before any firm conclusions are drawn.
…stem cells can be specifically reprogrammed to generate a functioning thyroid gland replacement.
Four F1000 Faculty Members comment on a recent Nature paper describing the generation of functional thyroid tissue from embryonic stem cells.
…men [with] diets higher in lean meats, fruits/vegetables, and whole grains have better…sperm motility.
“…as compared with men who consume diets high in fatty/processed meats, high-fat foods, and sweets” comments F1000 Faculty Member Cigdem Tanrikut on a paper looking at dietary patterns and semen quality in young.
An unexpected finding that challenges current views of cortical cell fate based purely on birthdating.
F1000 Prime Faculty Member Kevin Mitchell highlights a Science paper that provides new insight into how laminated cortex may have arisen in evolution.
deep sequencing of a human-like female from a single finger bone, found in a cave in Siberia…
F1000 Faculty Member Steven Salzberg comments on the remarkable achievement of a novel DNA extraction method allowing for unprecedented amounts of ancient DNA to be retrieved from a very small sample.
Perhaps now is the time to take trials away from clinicians…
Systematic review methodologist Andrew Booth recommends an observational study about the funding from pharmaceutical companies to clinicians and the financial gain they receive from subsequent publications.
And why ‘Prime’? Prime is an adjective that says “the best”, and that’s what F1000 Prime is about…
The most recent Naturally Selected blog post explaining some fundamental changes to F1000 and the introduction of our new article rating system.
Do the habits of your dad affect your resistance to liver disease?
F1000 Faculty Member Jean Francois Dufour reviews a study that suggests liver injury may lead to epigenetic changes in wound healing for the next generation.
…stepping towards, and sometimes over, the boundary of ethical behavior to make themselves more ‘fundable’.
F1000 Faculty Member P Shing Ho comments on a recent article that suggests misconduct accounts for the majority (2/3′s) of retracted scientific publications.
Chocolate consumption may lower the risk of stroke.
F1000 Faculty members JoAnn Manson and Lu Wang highlight a new study and meta-analysis that furthers the hypothesis that chocolate consumption is associated with a reduced risk of stroke… in men at least.
…a wonderful new model to assess the mechanisms of tissue regeneration in mammals.
The African Spiny Mouse is introduced as a new mammalian model for tissue regeneration in this paper published in Nature, as recommended by several F1000 Faculty members.
Want to present anything as significant? Use your ‘researcher degrees of freedom’!
Hans van Beek (Physiology) recommends a controversial and highly important study by Simmons et al. about how easy it is to produce statistically significant evidence for a false hypothesis, plus ways to counteract this.
Studies that turn an entire branch of apoptosis on its head are increasingly rare as the field matures.
Scott Kaufmann (Cell Biology) highlights an article revealing that, when activated by TRAIL, death receptor 5-expressing endothelial cells within tumours undergo apoptosis and hence causes both tumour regression and blood vessel collapse, which has potential interest for cancer therapeutics.
This is an important study in the realm of neuroscience and the law
Robert Sapolsky (F1000 Faculty Member in Neuroscience) gives his opinion of a controversial article reporting that the way judges sentenced a hypothetical case depended on the neurobiological facts presented, and on whether the facts were presented by the prosecution or defense.
… before you place a whelk next to your ear, be sure the shell is empty.
Lezama et al. have made a new finding that rapa whelks, an invasive species, can massively bio-foul immature turtles, representing as much as 20% of the turtle’s weight. Kevin Lafferty comments on the paper and an impressive photograph therein.
Autoantibodies causing demyelination in the central nervous system (CNS) have been TAMEd…
TAME stands for ‘therapeutic antibodies tamed by endoglycosidase S (EndoS)’, and Marc A Williams and Mattias Collin highlight the first proof-of-concept study showing that these modified autoantibodies can be used therapeutically.
… demonstrates that Utx helps somatic cell reprogramming to the iPSC state.
F1000 Faculty Member John Gurdon (this year’s Nobel Prize winner) and his Associate, Vincent Pasque, commenting on the discovery that the histone demethylase Utx plays a role in reprogramming differentiated, somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by resetting the epigenetic state of the cells.
… consuming peanut and tree nuts during pregnancy may decrease the risk of atopy [in offspring].
Anne Marie Irani and Santhosh Kumar recommend an article published in JACI providing evidence that nut consumption in pregnancy may in fact decrease the risk of children developing nut allergies.
…should sound an alarm for all researchers hoping to translate basic science findings to clinical practice.
A recent J Neurosci paper challenges the status quo regarding the expression and function of P2X channels in sensory neurons, and is recommended by Cheryl Stucky and Andy Weyer.
…demonstrates a remarkably powerful integration of genomic and epidemiological data…
Mark Ragan and Cheong Xin Chan recommending a Sci Transl Med paper describing how whole-genome sequencing could be used as an essential reference for the management and containment of nosocomial infections.
…stunning evidence that gender bias continues to exist even among the science faculty…
F1000 Faculty member Janet Braam highlights a recent PNAS article that provides strong evidence that unconscious, subtle gender bias may impact the continuing efforts to recruit and retain a gender-balanced workforce in science.
humans can learn during sleep…
F1000 Faculty member Mike Crowder reviews an article which suggests humans can learn new information whilst sleeping. The study involved novel associations between tones and odors in the sleeping state, such that subjects sniffed in response to the tones that they heard!
An exciting discovery of a new form of cell death that everybody should know about…
F1000 Faculty member Yuichiro Suzuki highlights a novel cell death pathway which is iron dependent, and may well turn out to play an important role in neuro-disease and cancer.
a truly remarkable achievement in the field of spinal cord repair…
F1000 Faculty member Benedikt Berninger suggests if the strategy described by by Lu et al. turns out to be applicable to human spinal cord patients, there is no doubt basic neuroscience has claimed a great victory.
people drinking six or more cups of coffee per day had a significantly lower risk of death from all causes…
F1000 Faculty member Stefano Bellentani and his associate Vittorio Di Maso discuss that contrary to common perceptions, coffee consumption might be considered safe by clinicians, and possibly protective for health in different diseases.
So-called ‘slips of action’ are surprisingly common in everyday life…
F1000 Faculty member Jeff Dalley brings to our attention an article good for teaching that helps elucidate the brain mechanisms of goal-directed and habitual action control — dysfunction of which probably underlies disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and obesity.
…a great reminder that the DNA sequence we inherit…is less important than many would have us believe
A much-evaluated Nature article on how somatic retrotransposition alters the genetic landscape of the human brain captures the attention of F1000 Faculty Member Robert Sapolsky.
Move from ‘No Chocolate!’ to ‘NO Chocolate’.
Harald Schmidt and Kirstin Wingler comment on a Cochrane review on the effect of cocoa on blood pressure and discuss how cocoa may be useful in increasing the bioavailability of nitric oxide.
The debate on the merits of caloric restriction and longevity continues…
Faculty member Doug Galasko comments on a recent Nature paper that refutes the evidence for the benefits of caloric restriction in aging.
Physical inactivity [is] equally as harmful to health as tobacco smoking and obesity
F1000 Faculty member Ellen Chang highlights Lee et al.’s recent Lancet article that deals with the global effect of physical inactivity on major diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, and that should help make physical activity a worldwide public health priority.
…studying diverse organisms… can reveal potential applications for structural engineering.
Wendy Boss, F1000 Cell Biology Faculty Member, recommends a paper that draws on several disciplines to look at the coiling mechanism of cucumber tendrils, which could have some interesting uses in engineering.
Dissenting opinions anyone?
Andrew P Hendry highlights this example of an evolutionary change in phenotype that has taken place in response to climate change. At least part of the trend toward earlier migration timing in a pink salmon population in Alaska is shown by this paper to be genetically based and a result of temperature-based selection.
In times of recession, even the brain keeps an eye on its budget.
Neuroscience Faculty members Jeffrey Diamond and Annalisa Scimemi have recommended a paper that looks at the energetic costs of action potential generation based on Na+ and K+ charge overlap in neocortical pyramidal neurons.
It is always fun to discover that little in nature is wasted.
Virginia H Huxley on a study that has identified ß-nerve growth factor as the ovulation-inducing factor, a recently discovered factor that is present in seminal fluid and induces ovulation in the impregnated female.
Just one word, chapeau!
F1000 Faculty members Richard Daneman and Fabien Sohet salute the “tremendous” work of Srivastava et al. that identifies the potassium channel KIR4.1 as a potential immune target in multiple sclerosis.
…one of the most significant publications in the history of Alzheimer’s disease research.
Martha Bulyk and Preston Estep, members of F1000′s Genomics & Genetics Faculty, recommend an exceptional recent Nature paper reporting that a mutation in APP protects against Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline.
By the teeth of their skin, cavefish find their way.
A recent paper in Current Biology, highlighted by Andy Groves, reports that a unique cave-dwelling catfish may use mechanosensitive ‘skin teeth’ to sense water flow.
Learning about this phenomenon may result in more than one “Ah ha!” moment.
Virginia Papaioannou and Ripla Arora commenting on Oral ivermectin as an unexpected initiator of CreT2-mediated deletion in T cells, published in Nature Immunology.
Strange things are happening in plant genomes.
Anne Osbourn selects an article that adds to the ‘increasing number of reports of clustered genes for secondary metabolic pathways in plants’, published in Science.
This paper is either a clever party trick or a major breakthrough.
Gordon Fain places his bet on a breakthrough in the restoration of visual responses in blind mice, published in Neuron.
Hopefully this cure for original antigenic sin proves more durable than that to the original kind!
Barry Rouse commenting on must read research in vaccine design published in PNAS.
In this stimulating paper, the authors explore a mystery right out of a creationist play book.
Carlos Botero and Dustin Rubenstein recommend an article examining the evolution of increased complexity in a molecular machine.
If we don’t tackle this issue then who will?
David Norton follows Andrew Hector in recommending David Wardle’s thought-provoking article on plummeting acceptance rates by the main ecological journals.
The use of starch-based fluids for resuscitation in sepsis should be abandoned.
Michael O’Connor and 8 other F1000 Faculty members highlight a recent NEJM paper as a Change in Clinical Practice.
[kidney] stones now affect 1 in 11 persons in the USA, compared to 1 in 20 persons back in 1993
Ranan DasGupta commenting on a recent epidemiological study in Eur Urol.
Stuck for conversation at your research group’s next after-work beer? Try this paper!
Andrew Hector about a study showing that papers submitted to highly selective ecology journals are no better cited than those submitted to less selective ones.
…damn, you might say regretfully, I should have gone further, why did I stop?
Robert Sapolsky recommends an ‘ optimistic study about aging and regret published in Science.
Nature and nurture at the cellular level.
Esther Stoeckli about motor neuron responses to cellular signals.
…present study has clearly delineated some of the players performing on stage in the lamellipodial theatre.
Marie-France Carlier highlights a paper on lamellipodia formation.
Dopamine: the stabilizer of the mind?
Cheryl Grady and John AE Anderson on the relationship between dopamine and aging.
…damn, you might say regretfully, I should have gone further, why did I stop?
Robert Sapolsky recommends an ’optimistic study about aging and regret’ published in Science.
The first new anti-tuberculosis drug in decades.
Stan Deresinski recommends this important Phase 2 of Delamanid in multi-drug resistant TB, published in New Eng J Med.
…a new paradigm for the rational selection and synthesis of chemotherapeutic agents.
Gilbert Cote’s recommendation of an ‘exceptional study’ combining kinase chemistry and genetic profiling to develop more powerful anti-cancer therapies.
…a patient dead by neurological criteria in one country might become ‘undead’ upon being flown to another.
D. John Doyle highlights a paper reporting Harvey Cushing’s early experiences with brain death in 1908.
We should remember that we live in a dirty world.
Robert Palmer on biofilm formation.
…with the usual bag of genetic tricks fly guys like to use…
Charalambos Kyriacou highlights a Drosophila study on the molecular basis of sleep control.
This study provides new insights into the yin and yang of rapamycin treatment.
David Marcinek and Shane Kruse elucidate why rapamycin treatment may lead to insulin resistance and pro-diabetic symptoms in some patients.
This article…points out a common non-infectious condition that can be easily mistaken for viral encephalitis
Jeffrey Bergelson commenting on a recent article in Clin Infect Dis.
This study is a new twist on ‘dirty old metabolism’.
Rowena Matthews commenting on a provocative study suggesting new targets for cancer therapy.
Is there any exposure from a mobile phone in stand-by mode?
Bente Moene and Ole Mollerlokken review a paper that suggests there is a lack of clear description and knowledge of the exposures used in studies, especially when linked to the use of mobile phones in stand-by mode as a source of exposure.
The first successful hair baldness treatment by regenerative medicine. So exciting!
Jiro Kishimoto selects a conference poster that represents a novel regenerative medicine approach in hair growth treatment.
Beyond immune cell attraction: a role for chemokines in metabolism?
Amira Klip and Nicola Pillon highlight the role of CXCL1 in regulating fatty acid oxidation in muscle, which may be of great importance during exercise and in metabolic diseases.
I liked this paper that shows how the world is usually more complex than previously thought.
Sandra Knapp selects a paper that investigates the origins and pathways of domestication of the eggplant (aubergine), demonstrating that “seemingly intractable issues can be teased apart”.
This speaks of microbial communities existing on the proverbial “smell of an oil rag”!
A surprising finding highlighted by Frank Robb that oxygen can penetrate 30 metres deep into the clay under the ocean floor, feeding aerobic microbes that live within it.
Buddy, can you spare some mitochondria?
New research highlighted by Michael Gold reports that cell-to-cell transfer of mitochondria could be harnessed to repair tissue injury.
when food is scarce…mice economize by setting the thermostat on low at night
Ralph Mistlberger highlights new research which shows that mice switch temporal niches and become hypothermic under difficult conditions.
the reported point prevalence rate for alcohol abuse or dependence among women surgeons was 25.6%.
Keith Humphreys highlights a paper assessing the extent of alcohol problems amongst American surgeons.
…all in all, good food for ecological thoughts.
Fabio Bulleri on biases in the geographical context of terrestrial studies.
Genome modification for dummies.
Carlos F Barbas and Charles Gersbach on a major technical advance in genomics.
…codeine is not the optimal choice for pain control after adenotonsillectomy in children.
A paper reporting on codeine fatalities after tonsillectomy highlighted by Karen Zur and Jeffrey Cheng.
…links dominance status to gene expression and methylation patterns.
A recent PNAS paper demonstrating “a new cutting edge precedent in the study of genetic mechanisms underlying animal behavior”.
… this study permits independent evaluation of neural correlates of consciousness.
Max Kelz commenting on “Returning from Oblivion…”
…patients who reactivated CMV after HSCT have a decreased relapse incidence of acute myeloid leukemia.
Didier Blaise and Roberto Crocchiolo select this must read paper from Blood.
There is no substitute for biodiversity sages, despite being endangered species themselves.
J Emmett Duffy discusses the importance of traditional, intensive field experience in the discovery of plant species.
this article has the potential to change the way scientists think about fungal disease…
Richard Bardgett and Franciska De Vries highlight how emerging infectious diseases caused by fungi increasingly form a threat to plant and animal populations in both natural and managed systems.
a contemporary version of Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ with healthy, subservient and willing slaves!
David Triggle suggests a dystopian view of the genetic mechanisms that have been linked to the social behavior of primates.
…these findings will be used to improve pharmacological therapies for intrauterine growth restriction.
Jane Norman and Silvia Pedroni evaluate a presentation from the recent Society of Gynecological Investigation Annual Meeting, exploring the use of Ad.VEGF gene therapy to increase fetal growth velocity.
Ingenious experiments like these, using new technologies, will continue to inform the physiology of exercise.
A paper highlighted by James Duffin finds that the control of blood flow to exercising limbs at the onset of exercise resembles that for the control of breathing, demonstrating the integrated nature of the autonomic response to exercise.
This paper hits the ball out of the ball park!
Rowena Matthews highlights a paper that reveals the structure of all the components of a large multimodular iron-sulfur methyltransferase complex and how these enzymes carry out their complex series of reactions.
We find our way home most days, but how?
Kevan A Martin and Nuno Miguel MaÇarico Amorim da Costa evaluate a paper that raises questions about the workings of neurons in parietal cortex and what role they have in decision-related computations.
Old dogs don’t learn new tricks, but old drugs find new targets.
David Triggle highlighting a much-evaluated study that found that the T cell lymphoma drug bexarotene (Targretin) may work in Alzheimer’s disease.
[This work] will serve as another arrow in our quiver to better understand the mystery of general anesthesia.
John Doyle on the finding that methylphenidate reverses propofol anesthesia.
This paper will be a classic!
Gordon Fain highlights a study on the role and localization of connexin36 in the primate retina.
News Flash! An already FDA approved drug could lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
Joe Heitman highlights a 5-times-evaluated paper providing evidence that homeostatic circuits that promote clearance of beta-amyloid can be activated for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, possibly using bexarotene (Targretin), an already FDA-approved treatment for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
Sequence analysis of a Drosophila melanogaster line that has been kept in the dark since the 1950s.
Ary Hoffmann selects a PLoSOne paper describing genome features of “dark-fly”, a Drosophila line reared long-term in a dark environment.
A great resource for the worm evolution community.
Ilya Ruvinsky highlights a BMC paper about Caenorhabditis, in which numerous new species have been found in rotting fruits.
Gives us a much clearer picture of the selective forces that shape the evolution of mimicry.
Dustin Rubenstein and Carlos Botero comment on a paper that demonstrates the power of comparative analyses in understanding evolutionary processes.
This paper might … cause sleepless nights amongst the community of molecular geneticists in diagnostics.
Sue Malcolm and Daniel Kelberman highlight a thrice-evaluated paper that found that human loss of function mutations might not be associated with disease, as previously thought, which could provide useful lessons for diagnostics and disease-association studies.
Polonius’ picking of Hamlet’s brain turned lethal, but he may have been on to something.
Christer Allgulander on whether anxious cognition represents a viable human phenotype.
This is a great example of how ‘observational’ approaches can inform more detailed molecular analyses.
Keith Davis discusses a new model describing how leaf shape development is controlled.
If food is the way to a man’s heart, then it is apparently also so for Drosophila.
David Triggle on triggers of male courtship behaviour in the fruit fly.
This is an extremely exciting time for HCV treatment and heralds the start of a ‘treatment revolution’.
Ray Chung highlighting that hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment is possible without interferon.
What H129 giveth, H129 taketh away
Sandeep Robert Datta and Paul Greer on the generation of a Cre-dependent virus that can be used for synaptic tracing.
This paper cannot be ignored.
Graeme Cumming commenting on a paper revisiting the relationship between biodiversity and disease.
A remarkable study investigates the influence of female role models on career aspirations for females.
A recent F1000 evaluation that coincides thematically with International Women’s Day.
A game-changing finding in the field of hepatitis C virus treatment.
Ray Chung commenting on a preliminary study of two antiviral agents for hepatitis C.
DNA damage occurs in mouth cavity cells upon the ingestion of even low quantities of alcohol.
A fascinating study identified by Philip Burcham suggesting that we should chose our mouthwash more carefully.
Advances our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation and competition within species.
Ben Bolker commenting on a paper investigating the genetic and evolutionary basis of spiteful actions.
Recommending Tai Chi in this patient setting is based on very strong beneficial outcomes, and near zero risk.
Daniel Remick discussing a paper that evaluated whether Tai Chi would improve postural stability in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
The authors create a ‘Frankenstein’s protein’… to create what they term a ‘hopeful monster’.
E Neil G Marsh highlighting the potential of rationally recombining existing protein structures in new combinations to generate new enzymes.
The study highlights the power of using dog breeds for understanding human disease.
Corey Nislow highlights a paper that utilizes the fact that many domestic dog breeds have inherited genetic disorders to help in understanding related disorders in humans.
The effectiveness of social support critically depends on the genetic background of the participants.
Oliver Wolf discusses a paper showing that a single polymorphism in the oxytocin receptor gene can lead to a phenotype that does not benefit from social support.
I suspect that this paper may spark a major rethink of plant primary wall structure. Viva la Revolución!
Jocelyn Rose highlights a paper that challenges a current fundamental and long-standing assumption that the hemicellulose xyloglucan plays a key structural role in dicotyledon primary walls.
The unexpected value of the anus of the mosquito
Martin Giurfa evaluates this paper on the remarkable ingenuity of the blood-sucking mosquito, as reported in Current Biology.
Clinicians need to promote the uncertainty of PANDAS
Phillip L Pearl highlights that Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infection (PANDAS) should not be considered a valid diagnosis, and instead be renamed Childhood Acute Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (CANS).
A journey in space and time through the complex cellular processes driving eye morphogenesis
Peter Koopman and Mathias Francois evaluate a paper on unexpected cell movements in zebrafish and the implications for the patterning of eyes.
NSAIDs are active drugs with more and more serious side effects than GI bleeding.
A practice-changing paper highlighted by two Faculty Members warns that nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can cause a higher risk of death and heart attack.
This is a humbling paper — well, at least for computer fans
According to Russ Altman, this paper proves (for now) that humans can explore different search strategies just as well, if not better, than the best computer algorithms.
Microbial life in subsurface rocks is getting more interesting all the time.
William Martin on a paper that characterizes a subsurface bacterium and demonstrates that life originated at hydrogen-rich hydrothermal vents and that the first bacteria might have been acetogens.
Sleep more to eat less?
Kent Berridge commenting on why going without sleep may trigger stronger desires to eat.
The genie is now out of the bottle on this important process
Judith Eisen commenting on activity-dependent neurotransmitter respecification.
Dopamine deficiency tends to suppress hunger.
So reports Kent Berridge on a recent article about dopamine and food reward.
This article opens an entirely new perspective on mammalian thermogenesis.
Joshua Milner commenting on a recent paper showing that macrophages may have a role in the metabolic adaptation to cold.
Several components of the new guidelines lack scientific foundation and hinder progress.
The authors of this paper, picked up by Philippa Newfield , commenting on the tale of pitfalls they uncovered in the formulation and dissemination of the United States 2010 Dietary Guidelines.
[this] is in apparent violation of pharmaceuticals patents held by Myriad… I applaud Drs Salzberg and Pertea
Russ Altman on a paper that aims to demonstrate the problems with gene patents and provides a computational assay for patients to use privately to test for BRCA gene variants.
When all management-related charges were considered, the average cost of the penny was $7164.
Steven E Sobol highlights the article “Retrieval of a penny from the pediatric esophagus: a cost analysis.
I have been waiting three years for this paper, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Jim Maher on a novel structural approach to sequence-specific DNA recognition
One of nature’s less attractive creations, save presumably to other naked mole rats.
David Triggle examines the science behind the naked mole rat’s ability to not feel acid-induced pain published in Science.
This study… may hold promise as an alternative approach to an effective HIV vaccine.
Yufei Wang comments on a novel approach to in HIV vaccine development presented by Balazs et al in Nature.
The work described in this paper is a fine example of the modern drug discovery process in action.
John Proudfoot endorses an article detailing the discovery process of crizotinib, for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer.
This calls for a re-evaluation of the wider role of antibiotic resistance in microbial ecology and evolution
Edward Feil on a new paper suggesting that antibiotic resistance genes, with striking similarity to those observed in the clinic, were present in the environment many millennia ago.
Is the reductionistic postulate necessary or useful for the progress of neuroscience?
This poster aims to assess the claim by many neuroscientists that all mental activities are the product of the brain.
“I love finding unexpected connections, and this paper reports a connection I would never have guessed…”
Michael Gold highlights an article linking the relationship between immunoglobulin (Ig)A production by plasma cells and increased erythropoiesis in response to anemia or hypoxia.
More friends = bigger brains?
A question posed by Andrew Bell on reading the recent paper by Sallet J et al on the effects of social network size on the brain structure of macaques.
Our negative attitude toward uncertainty leads to a bias against creativity.
Eduard Stange commenting on a paper by JS Mueller et al demonstrating our concealed motivation towards the reduction of uncertainty leads to a bias against creativity.
We are struggling with a ‘Library of Babel’-like problem: too many sources where nuggets could be hidden.
Luis Amaral highlights an article that demonstrates how hard it is for life-scientists to filter out the gems from the volume of literature published in the biomedical sciences.
Does human individual variation provide insight into disease susceptibility but also propensity for health?
Kevin Conley asks whether individual deviation from the ‘normal’ contains important information about our susceptibility or resistance to disease.
We should not mix association with causation.
Ewout Steyerberg highlights a controversial paper suggesting that risk factors for the occurrence of an index event are not risk factors for recurrent events.
Psychiatrists and other health professionals should be aware of the enormous cost of the problem.
Malcolm Lader discusses an article that examines the emotional and financial cost of mental health problems in the European Union.
The best papers take a widely recognized problem and shed new light on it through a novel perspective.
This paper on the causes of chronic cough is an excellent example of that, according to Nigel Trudgill.
This is one of the very few experimental studies showing the selective rewards of polyandry.
Gabriele Sorci evaluates a paper reporting that Male house mice evolving with post-copulatory sexual selection sire embryos with increased viability.
This study ‘illuminated’ that 21.7% of patients with influenza receive antibiotics.
Patricia Schirmer and Stan Deresinski evaluate a paper by Misurski et al which leaves no question that there is still much to be done to combat the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics.
I just fell in love with the vitamin B12 chemistry.
F1000 Section Head Cathy Drennan talking about her work and what inspires her.
All of these offer new hope of turning the tables on malaria.
See a recent F1000 Biology Reports (open access) article entitled Drugs for malaria: something old, something new, something borrowed.
This is a thought-provoking article worth reading or re-reading.
Jamie Vandenberg commenting on Can a biologist fix a radio?–Or, what I learned while studying apoptosis.
…cancer stem cells can be generated by oncogenic transformation of stem cell progenies.
Saghi Ghaffari comments on the findings that, contrary to the expectations of many, the transformation from committed progenitor to leukemia stem cell can intitiated by the MLL-AF9 gene.
At the origin of life, the first enzymes were almost certainly just folded up RNA molecules
Etienne Joly’s perspective of why the highly evaluated paper on RNA mimics of GFP is so interesting.
Bacteria can keep a secret, at least until their fluorescent proteins are turned on
Richard Willson highlighting new printed arrays of microorganism colonies where specific chemical ‘keys’ can be used to decrypt the message for timed and on-demand release.
An entirely novel human cellular system for investigation of PD-related disease pathways
A new collaborative initiative aimed at developing new experimental tools using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons from Parkinson’s patients to aid discovery of therapeutic targets.
This fascinating article is an excellent example of what can happen when a crazy idea works
Amy Barrios on a novel study indicating that conformation-sensitive antibodies could be developed to successfully inhibit enzymes therapeutically.
Social networking sites such as Twitter are not the trivial pursuit for people who have nothing better to do
Charalambos Kyriacou highlighting a study that analysed millions of Twitter messages to come up with a circadian, weekly and seasonal view of dynamic changes in human mood.
Considered in isolation, citation counts mean little.
A paper selected for F1000 concluding that a multi-indicator approach is best for evaluating research impact.
These findings suggest that physicians in high spending regions are motivated by perverse incentives.
Bhawna Halwan and Atul Kumar comment on the disturbing and wasteful overuse of screening colonoscopy as reported in Archives of Internal Medicine
Careful experimentation is the foundation of all research, especially in the complex field of drug discovery
John Lowe on the critical importance of reproducing published findings in drug discovery.
These studies tell us that sometimes it is important to revisit the old arsenal
Kiwifruit can be beneficial for chronic constipation according to a paper evaluated by Kewin Siah, Reuben Wong and Kok-Ann Gwee.
Even genetics must change.
Stephen Schwartz sees a paradigm shift, as non-coding RNAs become as important as DNA to genetics.
What is the point of publishing the interim data on the 5-17 month olds?
Section Head Stephen Hoffman questions the decision to publish partial malarial vaccine trial data (quoted in Nature).
There does not seem to be a clear scientific reason why this trial has been reported…
Head of Faculty Nick White, writing in the New Engl. J. Med., questions the validity of reporting interim results of a malarial vaccine trial when only half the efficacy results are available.
Sometimes technology goes faster than knowledge.
Manel Esteller speaking at the European Society for Medical Oncology European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm last month.
If you clone using plasmids [...] you should give this protocol a whirl.
A one-step miniprep protocol becomes a reality. Evaluated by Lawrence Mulcahy and Kim Lewis.
I do not want to see our researchers reduced to a grey utilitarian conformity.
UK Universities & Science Minister David Willetts sets outs his ideas for how the Research Excellence Framework exercise will work, adding that the Journal Impact Factor will be ignored.
I hope this paper will stimulate optical engineers to think small!
The report of a new miniature fluorescence microscope captures the attention of F1000 Faculty member Peter Shaw.
A common misconception is that birds have little in the way of a sense of smell.
Tom Finger highlighting a recent paper on penguins.
[Establishes] a new phase of inflammasome research where the biochemist will be king.
Peter Murray commenting on a paper on innate immune recognition of bacterial ligands.
Fish oil may interfere with chemotherapy.
Piet Borst highlighting a paper in Cancer Cell.
The study has spurred one of the biggest controversies in the aging field.
Pankaj Kapahi commenting on an important refutation regarding Sir2 on lifespan in C. elegans and Drosophila.
You are what you eat!
Michael Müller commenting that if food-derived microRNAs do indeed serve as a new group of essential nutrients, as suggested recently, it could have a huge impact on the nutritional sciences and physiology.
I will love you if you eat the correct food!
Bernd Nilius on the discovery of a new ionotropic glutamate receptor in fruit fly that is activated by food-derived compounds, triggering and coordinating courtship behaviour.
Somewhat unsettling is the finding of structural bias in crystallographic structures
Lesa J Beamer and Steven Van Doren on a paper suggesting that cryogenic compression of solvent from channels can perturb structural coordinates of a multi-domain protein.
My own experience is that hospital managers… are often at odds with clinical staff and safety professionals
Craig Webster on a new study describing several factors that would be expected to significantly reduce error on the hospital ward.
emphasizes the importance of probing unconventional species to help solve biological problems.
Steven Reppert commenting on a paper studying the circadian clock in blind cavefish.
the correlation with impact factors isn’t exact, and we wouldn’t expect it to be
Richard Grant writing about F1000′s new Journal rankings.
Forkhead box p3 (Foxp3) — it’s not just for T cells anymore.
A recent paper in J Exp Med selected by F1000 Faculty member Arthur Hurwitz describes how the transcription factor FOXP3 was identified in a subset of macrophages, thereby providing a novel avenue for therapeutic intervention for cancer immunotherapy.
Communicating uncertainty is an important task for any scientist
Juliet Pulliam and James Lloyd-Smith
highlight an article giving a useful cross-disciplinary overview of techniques for communicating uncertainty, particularly to policy makers and the lay public.
A chemical ‘predator odour’ would be very useful.
Colin Lever and Neil Burgess commenting on a recent PNAS paper describing a potentially powerful new tool to probe the neurobiology of anxiety/fear.
News flash! A completely new mechanism for determining sexual identity
The genetic basis for sexual identity in zebrafish is scattered throughout the genome rather than being confined to a single chromosome, reports a paper evaluated by Joe Heitman.
evidence that monogamous birds are, well, not that monogamous
Daniel Promislow discusses the genetic correlations that lead apparently monogamous female birds to seek extra-pair matings.
Is there an optimal alcohol consumption level for publication success?
Joachim Claudet on publication success and its correlation with increasing beer consumption.
how many surgeons actually practice evidence-based surgery … ?
David Goldsmith muses on improving quality in medical care.
Twilight reloaded: the learning capacities of an insect Dracula
Martin Giurfa discusses the first controlled laboratory demonstration of associative learning in parasitic bugs.
any physicist worth even a fraction of their weight in neutrinos will be shaking their head
John Costella, a particle physicist in Melbourne, dismisses claims that neutrinos travel faster than light.
This particular ‘law’ is actually quite objectively worse than no law
F1000 Member Björn Brembs responds to a letter from Nai-Zhuo Zhao in Nature, about China’s crisis of confidence in the Journal Impact Factor.
Am J Clin Nutr, a journal I have come to distrust because it has excessive “nutritional cacophony”
Colin Butler at the Australian National University is suspicious when a well-respected author publishes in a particular journal.
There is no reversible brain death.
Title of an article in Crit Care Med evaluated by Martin Smith, UCLH, which “highlights the absolute imperative of meticulous attention to conformation with published guidance.”
We take issue with these statements, as a “foggy window” is not better…
Philippa Newfield disagrees with an editorial in the NEJM that, despite studies to the contrary, argues for retaining the BIS for monitoring wakefulness during surgery.
Safe genetically modified organisms at last!
Chantal Abergel evaluates a paper by Marlière et al on the chemical evolution of a bacterium’s genome
IVIG should no longer be offered as a therapy for patients diagnosed with unexplained recurrent miscarriages
Paul Lin evaluates a practice changing systematic review published in Fertility and Sterility
… each year, over a third of the EU population suffers from a brain disorder
Malcolm Lader evaluates the seminal report on the burden of brain disorders and mental disability that affects 165 million Europeans.
In theory, any emerging, unknown viral disease will be amenable to this intervention.
Michael Kurilla on the promising early work in the development of Broad Spectrum Antiviral Therapeutics as outlined in PLoS One.
The findings are likely to have a major impact on policy and practice for the control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Anthony Harries on an RCT that shows that early use of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults significantly reduces the rate of sexual transmission of HIV-1.
This will help clinicians caring for patients with life-threatening illnesses detect childhood sexual abuse
Janet Abrahm highlighting one of the few reviews of this subject in the palliative care literature that will help clinicians assemble the team these patients need for their care.
This landmark study demonstrates… that preserving stem cell function with age can extend organismal lifespan
Pankaj Kapahi on a Drosophila study that supports the theory that replacing or rejuvenating old cells that have lost their capacity to divide may improve healthspan.
This paper is of major importance as it revolutionizes severe aplastic anemia therapy
Arnon Nagler suggesting clinical practice for severe aplastic anemia treatment should change to use horse rather than rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG).
The investigators really leave no stone unturned in defining how killing and immunity to killing are accomplished
Victor DiRita discussing new research that shows Pseudomonas aeruginosa has the capability to kill competing species using a “needle prick” approach.
“How was it for you?” said the cat
David Triggle evaluates a fascinating article by House et al reporting that toxoplasma infected rats become sexually attracted to cat odors.
The investigators leave no stone unturned in defining how killing and immunity to killing are accomplished in this system.
Victor DiRita is the latest to evaluate this elegant study by the Mougous group that demonstrates that bacteria kill competitors by translocation of cell-wall-degrading enzymes.
Importantly, the issue of sperm count vs. sperm concentration remains a sticking point.
Gary Klinefelter recommends the commentary by Bonde et al. discussing the quality of population-based semen studies.
This simple correspondence should be viewed as a ‘call to arms’ for greater vigilance by the scientific community
Roger Brumback on the issue of competing interest statements and article retractions in medical journals.
Cattlemen and veterinarians should be warned that cows are closely related to bats
Felix Viana on new insights into the molecular mechanisms of thermosensation
An assay like this would revolutionize the study of rare cell types
Jonathan Bird and Thomas Friedman look at adaptations to the current gold-standard for detecting protein-protein interactions
Could retrograde stem cells be the responsible agents for the development of endometriosis?
A discussion of the role of stem cells in endometrium monthly regeneration and the development of endometriosis.
In a technical tour de force, Heller et al. reconstitute origin-dependent replication initiation in yeast extracts.
Wei-Theng Poh and Philipp Kaldis commenting on ‘elegant experiments’ that recapitulate the steps of eukaryotic DNA replication in vitro using budding yeast.
This is a story that all immunologists should know.
Grant Morahan discusses the seminal discovery of the thymus and its role in of our understanding of T cell biology.
Charlie Chan [...] was mistaken when he said, “Theories like fingerprints-everybody has them.”
Jonathan Bird and Thomas Friedman highlight the genetic mapping of “absence of fingerprints” disease to chromosome 4q22.
[the skin] surrounds our bodies as a safe house, so for our project we built eight small houses.
Regina Fölster-Holst, F1000 Member in Pediatric Skin Diseases, describes a public exhibition for which she won first prize in the German Science-in-Dialogue “Science Interactive” competition.
the jigsaw puzzle that is our understanding of mammalian spermatogenesis is coming ever so close to completion
Paul Turek on efforts to find the scientific and clinical holy grail of recreating mammalian spermatogenesis, a “miraculous puzzle”.
…two hypothesized structural motifs do not exist, which has helped solve a few controversies
The crystal structure of a kappaB kinase beta inhibitor clears up a few things, according to
Zucai Suo.
This is, undoubtedly, a breakthrough paper.
Hugues Abriel welcomes the long-awaited first crystal structure of a voltage-gated sodium channel.
[This new technology] will undoubtedly prove to be a useful tool for studying RNA biology.
The 110,000th F1000 evaluation by Thomas Kodadek of a paper showing that RNA can be made to mimic green fluorescent protein.
This surprising result [...] undermines much of paediatric (and adult) emergency care.
Daniel JR Harvey and Jonathan Hardman commenting on a recent NEJM paper showing that fluid boluses increased mortality in African children with severe infection.
it challenges the existing dogma of a functional distinction between regulatory T cells and macrophages.
Volker Briken and David Mosser commenting on a highly significant paper that will have important implications for the design of novel immunotherapeutics for cancer.
This article raises the possibility of a new paradigm for understanding metastasis: the self-seeding model.
Bernard Caillou on the clinical implications of cancer self-seeding published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology.
It challenges the dogma in the field that dopamine is the universal substrate for reinforcement
Michael Fanselow commenting on a stimulus-reward learning study.
In a megalomaniac fit, I propose to change the name we gave to our planet: Titanic.
Ferdinando Boero on the need to keep re-emphasizing that environmental degradation grows disproportionately rapidly with an increase in human numbers.
This is a truly exceptional paper …[and]… an amazingly complete story.
Mark Rose on the surprising discovery of a novel periplasmic chaperone of E. coli named Spy.
There is an obvious disconnection between the Obama administration’s national strategy and the fourteen interventions mandated for federal support.
William Darrow on the Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan developed by federal health officials.
This is a seminal work for neurobiology and a drumbeat for structural membrane biology.
Thomas Meier on the first crystal structure of a voltage-gated sodium channel.
… a remarkable advancement in the field of cell reprogramming and cell replacement therapy.
Alessandra Pasut and Michael Rudnicki on the suggestion that only 3 genes are required to efficiently reprogram fibroblasts to acquire a dopaminergic neuronal fate
General oversight of research integrity in the UK [is] unsatisfactory and complacent.
The UK Commons Science and Technology Committee report on peer review quoted in F1000′s Naturally Selected.
The films make clear that live imaging of cells has entered a new era.
Faculty Member Bob Goldstein is in awe of this new technique described in Nature Methods.
This study by Maciejewski and co-workers raises doubt about the efficacy of bariatric surgery.
Britta Kubera and Achim Peters on this controversial paper in JAMA.
… a happy facial expression is more noticeable visually than any other facial expression.
Becker and colleagues give us reason to be cheerful according to Faculty Member Kent Berridge.
…this paper reminds us of humanity’s first and far older global change – the decapitation of food webs on land and sea.
J Emmett Duffy is one of three Faculty Members to recommend the Science paper Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth.
There is nobody here to tell you this is what your rights are and this is what your rights aren’t
The needs of migrants living with HIV are not being addressed, according to the authors of this F1000 Poster.
[This] may provide an opportunity for manufacturers to design computer screens that actively support circadian alignment.
James Duffin sees a business opportunity based on how exposure to light emitting diode computer screens can affect circadian physiology, alertness and cognitive performance levels.
Serizawa et al. describe a ‘Back to the Future’ approach to this basic challenge
Terry Roemer evaluates a paper on genome-wide screening for novel genetic variations.
The study is an excellent example of non-statistically significant outcomes being both informative and thought-provoking.
Max Moldovan and Jeffrey Braithwaite evaluate a paper on the association between hospital accreditation and patient satisfaction
Wow! The Tsien lab might have done it again
Seth Davis is impressed by a genetically encoded mini singlet oxygen generator that can make proteins visible under both light and electron microscopy.
If you thought at school, like I did, that mechanics is boring, this paper might change your mind.
Simple physical rules determine how bacteria maintain their cell shape–evaluation by Jan-Ulrich Kreft.
one should [rather] enjoy the beauty of the findings.
Ivan Bogeski and Markus Hoth on the long-awaited identification of the mitochondrial calcium transporter.
This is the way science is done today
The discovery that a component of predator’s urine warns potential prey, by a multi-national collaboration, attracts the attention of Björn Brembs.
…we are worse than Buffalo Bill; we also destroy the habitats of the fish…
Ferdinando Boero lays the blame for squarely on us and our “weapons of ecological mass destruction”.
I thought I knew all the other researchers working on the subject…
Clotilde Théry describes how an explosion of interest in her field took her by surprise, in her F1000 Biology Reports review of exosomes.
Does the Flash Lag Effect (FLE) influence the determination of the offside rule in Soccer?
F1000 Poster from the Vision Sciences Society 11th Annual Meeting 2011 assessing whether FLE affects an assistant referee’s perception of a moving attacker’s position, relative to a defender, when judging if they are offside.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could grow plastic?
Richard Grant in F1000′s Naturally Selected blog about an evaluation by Alexander Krichevsky and Vitaly Citovsky regarding transplastomic tobacco plants.
…a remarkable finding by a group of Boston researchers reveals that bacteria also reveal altruistic behavior.
David Triggle highlighting an important article requiring a reconsideration of antibiotic resistance.
Early supplementary parenteral nutrition (PN) should no longer be considered during the early phase of critical illnesses.
recommends a change in clinical practice based on a recent study published in NEJM.
…if cells have a capability to reset their age, why do they age in the first place?
Yukiko Yamashita on the philosophical questions raised by the work of recently published in Science.
In other words, ‘publish everything and let everybody review’. I think many authors are very happy to see this trend.
Robert Palmer expanding on the ten simple rules for good peer review suggested by the Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Biology of the Cell.
Certain ethnic groups may be under-utilizing opioid analgesics.
JH Puyat and colleagues discover that Asians, particularly women, are less likely than whites to get prescriptions for opioid analgesics filled.
Thus, another piece of the puzzle has been put in place in the jigsaw that is the circadian negative feedback loop.
Charalambos Kyriacou recommends an article describing two additional components thought to be necessary for the feedback loop that drives mammalian circadian rhythms.
Filmmakers need to anticipate the manipulation of the viewer’s perception and attention.
Sebastian Pannasch and colleagues suggest that Eisenstein deliberately provoked the viewer’s attentional focus to induce the impression of objectless motion in his silent film, October: Ten days that shook the world.
This result brings us closer to solving a persistent problem in science: how the brain creates consciousness.
Phil Corlett and Paul Fletcher highlight findings that may allow clinicians to better distinguish between levels of consciousness in minimally conscious patients.
Success in life is all about doing the right thing at the right time.
Michael Hastings is captivated by the beautiful biochemistry of Circadian regulation.
The findings, while surprising to many, do not provide clear clinical guidance and should not be used as such.
Benjamin Scott and Jiri Horak raise questions about a study on treating traumatic brain injury.
This suggests that the treatments tended to be equal mostly in their lack of effectiveness.
Ronald Sorkness comments on a pragmatic trial of asthma therapy in the real world.
Science moves by fits and starts, sometimes, and by claim and refutation as well
Ed Rybicki responding to a comment regarding a paper on xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in blood: the subject of an editorial Expression of Concern.
Sounds like a good experiment to try on your holidays this summer if you’re being plagued by mosquitoes.
Wendy Gibson evaluates a paper that shows how overloading mosquitoes’ carbon dioxide sensors can stop them biting you.
Based on these technical achievements, they were able to track the time course of intracerebral activation on a millisecond basis
Lutz Jäncke evaluates a paper on the neurophysiological processes involved in cortical inhibition.
This article has made me question everything I thought I knew about fluid resuscitation in pediatric patients with shock.
Reitze Rodseth] and Bruce Biccard recommend a change in clinical practice after reading Mortality after Fluid Bolus in African children with Severe Infection.
I particularly recommend that students read controversial papers, along with all the published commentary.
Laura Landweber on the arsenic life controversy and how even controversial work can be useful for teaching.
This study challenges the reliability and accuracy of the near holy grail of citation impact factors
Michael Andresen and others highlight some of the problems with the Journal Impact Factor.
Science is full of fake promises (to impress funding agencies and the public at large).
Faculty Member Ferdinando Boero warns against promising too much when persuading people of the value of research, at Naturally Selected.
My long-held prejudice for the uniformity of ribosomes is totally overthrown by this paper
Jonathan R Warner on the finding that the ribosomal protein L38 is a translational regulator.
I disagree with the previous evaluators: don’t immobilize the diaphragm unnecessarily.
Philipp Fassbender and Matthias Eikermann dispute ways of treating severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.
I don’t believe that all scientists are potential fraudsters…
Gavin Vinson discussing the philosophy behind peer review, at Naturally Selected.
Reading this paper filled me with glee; at long last an editor who gives clear cut directions to referees so that they produce constructive reviews.
Etienne Joly evaluates a paper in Molecular Biology of the Cell discussing the process of peer review.
