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scientificactivistprofile.gif A postdoc by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his research in protein structure and function get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.

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basic science:

Two New Papers on Integrin Activation

Category: integrins

My first first-author paper and another that I contributed to shed light on the important biological process of integrin activation.

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New Interactive 3D Molecular Images in Scientific Articles

Category: scientific literature

Late last week, I received emails from two journals (The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) and PLoS ONE) indicating that they are now incorporating interactive 3D images of molecular structures in their papers. The atomic coordinates of all published biomolecular...

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2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Ribosome

Category: Nobel Prize

The prize will be shared equally between Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome."

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2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Telomeres and Telomerase

Category: Nobel Prize

Three Americans, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak, win the prize for the discovery of telomeres and telomerase.

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Why Swine Flu Is Resistant to Adamantane Drugs

Category: structural biology

All H1N1 swine flu isolates tested to date are resistant to adamantane-based drugs. This post explains the origin of this resistance in light of what we know about the structure and function of influenza proteins.

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THC Gives Cancer Cells the Munchies Too

Category: biology

The active ingredient in marijuana causes cancer cells to begin to degrade themselves from the inside, leading to programmed cell death.

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Fine-Tuning Cell Adhesiveness

Category: integrins

The cell adapts to constantly changing conditions by controlling the adhesiveness of the integrins.

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2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: GFP

Category: Nobel Prize

"for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP"

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2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: HIV and HPV

Category: Nobel Prize

was awarded for the discovery of HIV and the discovery that HPV causes cancer.

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Do You Work on E. Coli?

Category: internet

If so, check out EcoliWiki.

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E. coli, We Hardly Knew You

Category: book reviews

The often unexamined life of E. coli comes alive in Carl Zimmer's Microcosm.

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Water on Mars, Part 2

Category: space science

The second part of an interview with planetary geologist Bethany Ehlmann

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Water on Mars, Part 1

Category: space science

The first part of an interview with planetary geologist Bethany Ehlmann

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Science for a Brave New World

Category: philosophy of science

Is there a certain suite of legislation that needs to be passed now in order to provide a greater assurance of scientific good in the near future?

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Do You Want to Be Able to Crap Gold?

Category: chemistry

That might not be possible, but ingesting isotopically-enriched food would make your waste even more valuable.

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Why Are Veins Blue?

Category: biology

Here's a hint: blood isn't blue. Ever.

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An Integrin Is Identified as a Co-Receptor for HIV

Category: HIV/AIDS

Scientists identify the alpha-4 beta-7 integrin as a co-receptor for HIV, offering a potential new drug target.

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Integrin Phosphorylation as an Off Switch for Integrin Activation

Category: Life of Nick

A tiny modification can make a big difference in proteins involved in cell adhesion and migration.

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Stem Cells from Down Under

Category: stem cells

Awkward? Probably. But, menstrual blood stem cells show some early promise.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Debate Over; Thousands of Researchers Now Jobless

Category: stem cells

The media mangles otherwise interesting and significant stem cell findings.

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2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Knockout Mice

Category: Nobel Prize

Awarded for the knockout mouse to Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans, and Oliver Smithies

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Ask a ScienceBlogger: A Sun Ray a Day....

Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger

Although extended unprotected exposure to the sun damages your skin and eyes, a small daily dose is important for maintaining general health and wellbeing

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More Trouble for the Schatten Lab, but One Potential Success

Category: stem cells

The U.S. Office of Research Integrity announced this week that it has found a former postdoc in Gerald Schatten's lab, Park Jong Hyuk, guilty of research misconduct for falsifying images in a manuscript on deriving embryonic stem cells from cloned...

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My Second Scientific Paper: Matrix Protease Activity in Tumor Cell Invasion

Category: Life of Nick

The second paper from my undergraduate work at Texas A&M University was recently published in Molecular Cancer. The abstract can be found here, and the pdf of the full paper here. Molecular Cancer is an open access journal, so a...

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More on Edible Cotton Seeds

Category: transgenic crops

Last month, I wrote a post about a research group at Texas A&M University that reported genetically engineering "edible cotton seeds" by using RNAi technology to stably and specifically knock out production of the gossypol toxin in the seeds of...

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Congratulations to Daniel Rhoads

Category: blogosphere

Via A Blog Around the Clock comes news that Daniel Rhoads, who writes the informative blog Migrations (and formerly A Concerned Scientist), has successfully defended his dissertation. So, after a few minor revisions, it looks like it won't be too...

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They Probably Won't Taste as Good as Cotton Candy...

Category: transgenic crops

But, a recent report in PNAS demonstrates that edible cotton seeds could be a real possibility, thanks to new transgenic crop biotechnology.

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The Return of "Ethically Sound" Stem Cells

Category: stem cells

The "ethically sound" stem cell paper resurfaces this week, as it appears in the print version of the current issue of Nature.

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NMR Blogs

Category: NMR

A list of blogs covering NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)

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Social Insects: More KGB than Brady Bunch

Category: behavioral genetics

Social controls play a surprisingly large role in encouraging altruism in insect colonies, according to a paper in last week's issue of Nature.

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The Structure of the Living Cell

Category: structural biology

Oxford's Iain Campbell discusses the past and future of structural biology.

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My First Scientific Paper: The Stabilization of Blood Vessels by Protease Inhibitors

Category: Life of Nick

My first appearance in the peer-reviewed scientific literature provides an opportunity to learn a little bit about blood vessel development.

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2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Eukaryotic Transcription

Category: Nobel Prize

The 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Roger Kornberg for his work on elucidating the molecular basis of transcription in eukaryotes.

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2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: RNA Interference

Category: biochemistry

The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced this morning, with one half going to Andrew Fire and the other half to Craig Mello, both for the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). The discovery of RNAi added a...

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Where Do Babies Come From? Find the Answer and More in Coming to Life

Category: book reviews

Nobel Laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard's Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development is an understated primer that lays out the current state of the art of developmental biology, shocking the reader with just how much we know about how each one of us came to take our unique but fundamentally similar shapes.

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Setting the Record Straight on Global Warming

Category: global warming

An April 2006 paper in Nature narrowed down the range of possible scenarios for how global warming may play out as carbon dioxide levels continue to rise. Although much of the press coverage treated it as a blow to global warming science, it was in reality quite the opposite.

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A Hot Topic

Category: global warming

Global warming is certainly a "hot topic", and this post decribes some global warming research findings from January 2006: one that revises estimates of the expected increase in sea level due to global warming and another that demonstrates how certain important marine ecosystems could be vulnerable to changes in ocean currents due to global warming.

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Amphibian Disease Heats Up

Category: global warming

What do global warming and epidemic diseases have in common? Apparently they have a lot, at least when it comes to amphibians.

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Sixth Annual CCPN Meeting in Ambleside, UK

Category: conferences

On the weekend of July 28th-30th, about 150 NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scientists from the UK and Europe (and a few from the US) gathered in Ambleside for the Sixth Annual Collaborative Computing Project for NMR (CCPN) Meeting. The topic...

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Fantastical Fridays: Genetic Engineering's Next Challenge - The Smiley Face

Category: Fantastical Fridays

Genetic engineering holds a great deal of promise, but it can only be used on things that are "alive". Still, scientists have found other ways to make the stuff of genes, DNA, come alive in more artistic ways.

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Fantastical Fridays: Psychedelic Psilocybin Psychology

Category: Fantastical Fridays

Now here's an experiment I would have liked to take part in. Researchers from Johns Hopkins systematically test the psychological effects of the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, and the results are pretty positive. Not only that, but a significant number of participants rate the experience as the single most meaningful one of their lives!

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Celebrating Nikola Tesla

Category: Nikola Tesla

Since my Ph.D. research is on protein NMR, I would be remiss if, as we celebrate his 150th birthday, I didn't mention Tesla's connection to my field--particularly since the unit for the strength of a magnetic field bears his name!

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Ask a ScienceBlogger: Cloning - Who Cares?

Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger

In 2006, cloning for cloning's sake isn't where it's at. Instead, the future of cloning lies in its applications to biomedical research. Today, that means, among other things, the prospect of using cloning to generate unique lines of embryonic stem cells.

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Fantastical Fridays: Partisan Neurons

Category: Fantastical Fridays

Now I have an excuse for my behavior the next time I get into a bitter political debate: I can't help being defensive--it's hardwired into me! Those are the findings, at least, of a study led by psychologist Drew Westen.

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Fantastical Fridays: NMR Goes Natural, Baby!

Category: Fantastical Fridays

In NMR, bigger really is better, at least when it comes to magnetic field strength, and the entire field has in some ways become one big manhood size-measuring contest. One group, though, reported earlier this year in Nature Physics that sometimes it may be better to just go natural. Forget about all of the high-tech magnets--just use the big one right under your feet!

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Fantastical Fridays: Funny (and Suggestive) Molecules

Category: Fantastical Fridays

Last week's Fantastical Fridays was a big hit, so we'll keep the momentum going with more chemistry this week. Instead of anthropomorphic molecules, though, this one is all about chemicals with downright ridiculous names. If you still have any doubts...

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Fantastical Fridays: Organic People Chemistry

Category: Fantastical Fridays

Lurking beneath the surface here at ScienceBlogs is a force that compels people to do extremely gimmicky things on Fridays. Since I know that I'm no better than anyone else, I've decided to join in on the fun. Therefore, I...

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Ask a ScienceBlogger: Alternative Careers

Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger

Each week, Seed magazine poses a question to all of its ScienceBloggers. This week's question, from reader Jake Bryan, is: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you...

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Nobel Laureate Robert Huber to Give Talk at Oxford

Category: events

This is a plug for an event that the Oxford University Biochemical Society is putting together. This Monday, June 12th, at 4:00 pm the Oxford University Biochemical Society will be hosting a talk by Nobel Laureate Robert Huber in the...

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