Issue | Fall 2022 | Rethinking Neuroscience

Features

The Misunderstood Proteins of Neurodegeneration

Catherine Offord | Aug 1, 2022 | 10+ min read

The normal functions of peptides that aggregate in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s have been largely overlooked by scientists, but some argue that they are critical for understanding the development of disease.

The Cerebellum’s Functions in Cognition, Emotion, and More

Diana Kwon | Aug 15, 2022 | 10+ min read

Once thought of as a mere motor coordination center, the “little brain” is now appreciated as participating in higher neurological processes.

Illustration showing a puzzle piece of DNA being removed

Large Scientific Collaborations Aim to Complete Human Genome

Brianna Chrisman and Jordan Eizenga | Sep 1, 2022 | 10+ min read

Thirty years out from the start of the Human Genome Project, researchers have finally finished sequencing the full 3 billion bases of a person’s genetic code. But even a complete reference genome has its shortcomings.

Horizontal Gene Transfer Happens More Often Than Anyone Thought

Christie Wilcox, PhD | Jul 5, 2022 | 10+ min read

DNA passed to and from all kinds of organisms, even across kingdoms, has helped shape the tree of life, to a large and undisputed degree in microbes and also unexpectedly in multicellular fungi, plants, and animals.

Editorial

Wonders Without, Wonders Within

As humanity peers ever further into the cosmos, the similarities and differences between our universe and our inner workings emerge.

Speaking of Science

Notable Science Quotes

Taking stock of the CDC's COVID-19 response, the importance of forest science, the evolutionary importance of chewing, and more

Critic at Large

Tiny diverse scientists are studying the covid-19 virus under a giant microscope. Vaccine development concept

Opinion: Many Clinical Trials Fail to Navigate the Literature

Too often, studies that aim to develop new treatments for patients fail to adequately cite and build upon research that preceded them.

Why gut health matters. Your digestion are important. Horizontal poster. Medical infographic. Stomach function. Editable vector illustration in modern style. Healthcare and scientific concept

Opinion: Splashing Cold Water on Poop Transplants for Weight Loss

Gut microbiome–based solutions hold promise for addressing obesity, but are they overhyped?

Notebook

Male common fruit fly (Drosophila Melanogaster) - about 2 mm long - sitting on a blade of grass with green foliage background

The Sex Appeal of Symmetric Songs

Female fruit flies assess the physical symmetry of male suitors through the songs they sing, a study claims.

Magical fairytale forest. Coniferous forest covered of green moss. Mystic atmosphere.

The Unusual Functions of Geosmin

The compounds responsible for the earthy smell of recent rain are produced by a wide variety of bacteria and fungi. Recent research sheds light on why microbes bother.

Ferns bounced back much faster than other plants after the meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Why Did Ferns Persist When All Other Plants Perished?

A strange layer in the fossil record contains evidence that fern populations exploded following the mass extinction that ended the Cretaceous period. Scientists want to know why.

Oysters’ shells were made into concrete and other materials used in construction during the Industrial Revolution.

Scientists Use Sound to Attract Baby Oysters Back to the Reef

Meet the team trying to restore mollusk populations with the help of underwater speakers.

Infographics

Infographic: Noncoding RNA in the Brain

Neurologically important noncoding RNAs come in many shapes and sizes.

Infographic showing how neurodegenerative diseases have long been associated with aggregations of apparently toxic proteins

Infographic: Secret Lives of Neurodegeneration-Linked Proteins

Maligned peptides such as the Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid precursor protein may have critical roles in the healthy brain.

Infographic: The Cerebellum’s Many Roles Beyond Motor Control

Researchers have discovered that the small structure is involved in language, emotion, and many other high-order brain processes.

Illustration showing assembly Versus Alignment

Infographic: The Sequencing and Assembly of the Human Genome

With ever-advancing genetic technologies, researchers continue to document the genetic code of the human species.

Illustration of a DNA virus sneaking genetic material into a host’s nucleus

Infographic: Possible Mechanisms of Gene Transfer in Eukaryotes

Genetic studies have made it clear that eukaryotic horizontal gene transfer can and does happen. Exactly how, though, remains speculative.

Infographic: Vangl2 in Muscles Keeps Neuromuscular Junctions Organized

Genetic knockout experiments reveal a role for the protein in forming and maintaining synapses between motor neurons and muscle fibers in mice.

To flag neurons that have experienced genotoxic stress, researchers developed an in vivo sensor using an adeno-associated viral vector, called PRISM. Because a cell’s DNA damage response (DDR)—which activates in response to stressors such as environmental toxins or the buildup of misfolded proteins—also responds to invading pathogens, PRISM has an easier time transfecting cells whose damage response mechanisms are preoccupied with existing DNA damage. Once inside, the virus hijacks the neuron’s DNA replication machinery, which reverts an engineered frameshift mutation in the virus and thereby prompts the production of a fluorescent protein that can be observed via microscopy.

Infographic: DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

A new genetic sensor called PRISM makes use of a host cell’s DNA replication machinery to trigger fluorescence in neurons with damaged DNA.

Scientist to Watch

Humsa Venkatesh Probes Cancer’s Grip on the Brain

At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the cancer biologist is combining research into the tumor microenvironment with the principles of neuroscience to tease apart how cancers grow—and how to stop them.

Clinton Cave Investigates How Brain Cells Communicate

The Middlebury College neuroscientist explores enzymes that affect brain cell development and neurodegeneration.

Modus Operandi

DNA Damage Viewed with Unprecedented Clarity

A new tool called PRISM draws on virus-host interactions and a DNA repair pathway to help researchers visualize how cellular stress may contribute to neurodegenerative disease.

The Literature

A Novel Player at the Neuromuscular Junction

The muscle transmembrane protein Vangl2 helps organize the development and maintenance of connections between muscles and motor neurons, a study concludes.

A colored microscope image of a cross section of a human artery filled with fatty plaques

Protein-Recycling Process Protective Against Arterial Plaques

A team of scientists has found that in mice, a cellular housekeeping pathway protects against a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Bull Ant Venom Evolved to Make Bites More Painful to Mammals

A peptide found in bull ant venom closely resembles a hormone of its primary predator, triggering hypersensitivity and making subsequent bites even more painful than the ones that came before.

Mother’s Circadian Rhythms Mirrored in Fetal Rat Brains

Before their own central clocks develop, the brains of fetal rats detect their mother’s metabolic cycle to help regulate the expression of certain genes.

A California coyote above Santa Monica beach

Human Gut Bacteria Show Up in Urban Wildlife

The gut microbiomes of city-dwelling animals, including coyotes, lizards, and birds, show similarities to those found in humans who also live in urban environments.

Careers

What If Scientists Shared Their Reagents for Free?

Some researchers have decided to provide their products without financial compensation or expectations of authorship on resulting papers, prompting a flurry of new work.

close up programmer student man hand typing on keyboard at computer desktop to input code language into software for study bug and defect of system in classroom , development of technology concept

How to Fix Science's Code Problem

Despite increasingly strict journal policies requiring the release of computational code files along with research papers, many scientists remain reluctant to share—underscoring the need for better solutions.

Reading Frames

Opinion: Why We Fall for Fad Diets

Human beings are susceptible to the latest nutritional trends, regardless of their actual biological value.

Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>

Opinion: Animal Dreaming Should Give Us Ethical Pause

Research shows that humans aren’t the only animals whose imaginations run wild while they sleep.

Foundations

Person in a black, beaked robe (left) and man in a black tunic (right), flanking a red coat of arms

Masking Up, 1619 to Present

Putting on a mask to protect oneself and others against disease is nothing new, nor is resistance to mask-wearing, but mask designs have changed considerably from their first iterations.

Handmade Hemoglobin, 1912-2012

Makio Murayama, a Japanese-American biochemist who was turned away from the Manhattan Project due to his heritage, rose to prominence for his work uncovering the link between the structure of hemoglobin and the mechanisms of sickle cell disease.

Fall 2022

Rethinking Neuroscience

From the cerebellum to neurodegenerative disease, researchers are giving old science a fresh look