Issue | December 2019 | Markers of Alzheimer's

Features

The Hunt for a Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Disease

Shawna Williams | Dec 1, 2019 | 10 min read

Researchers hope circulating biomarkers will enable earlier detection and better monitoring of the neurodegenerative disorder—and perhaps help usher in new treatments.

What Paraspeckles Can Teach Us About Basic Cell Biology

Archa Fox | Dec 1, 2019 | 10+ min read

Discovering a new type of subnuclear body taught me how pursuing the unexpected can lead to new insights—in this case, about long noncoding RNAs and liquid-liquid phase separation in cells.

2019 Top 10 Innovations

The Scientist Staff | Dec 1, 2019 | 10+ min read

From a mass photometer to improved breath biopsy probes, these new products are poised for scientific success.

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the December 2019 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Innovation Farming

Nurturing ideas to fruition, like growing plants, is a complex process that relies on a suitable substrate and favorable growth conditions.

Speaking of Science

Ten Minute Sabbatical

Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse.

Critic at Large

Opinion: Interdisciplinary Approach Needed to Crack Morphogenesis

Physicists, geneticists, computer scientists, and biologists are working together to gain a full appreciation of the intricacies of organismal growth and form.

Freeze Frame

Caught on Camera

Selected Images of the Day from the-scientist.com

Notebook

Life Rides the Wind in the Desert

As the afternoon breezes blow harder in the Atacama Desert—a place so desolate it’s used as a model of Mars—more microbes move into its driest regions.

Dramatic Temperature Spikes Inside Cells Draw Interest, Skepticism

Using a tiny thermometer, researchers record fluctuations of more than 7 Kelvin in sea slug neurons when a heat-generating mitochondrial process is switched on.

Sleep Study in Antarctica Explores Role of Cultural Differences

Habits such as napping might influence how humans cope with extreme environments, such as those at a polar research facility in winter.

A Last-Minute Science Dash to an Erupting Volcano

Researchers plan an oceanographic expedition to understand why a phytoplankton bloom developed as molten lava flowed into the sea east of Hawaii's Big Island.

Modus Operandi

CRISPR-Based Tool Expands DNA-Hydrogel Versatility

DNA-responsive polymer gels used for releasing drugs, encapsulating cells, and much more now have greater adaptability thanks to the Cas12a nuclease.

The Literature

Mitochondria from Different Brain Cells Have Different Proteins

Organelles isolated from two types of neurons and a nonneuronal astrocyte in the mouse cerebellum showed varying levels of proteins, hinting at functional differences.

Alzheimer’s Drug Reduces Chagas Disease Infection in Mice

The drug, called memantine, could enter clinical trials to determine its effectiveness in humans.

Worm Embryogenesis: Cell by Cell and Gene by Gene

A single-cell map of C. elegans’s transcriptome during development finds cell lineages that start out genetically different and end up as cells of similar function and genetic profile.

Profile

Exploring the Matrix: A Profile of Zena Werb

The cell and molecular biologist unveiled a role for the breakdown of proteins in the extracellular matrix in both healthy and pathogenic cells.

Scientist To Watch

Sergiu Pasca Builds Brains to Study Developmental Disease

The Stanford University professor helped develop a technique to grow brain organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells.

Careers

Do English-Only Policies Foster or Damage Inclusivity in Science?

Speaking a common language is key to a well-integrated team, but guidance is sparse on what—if anything—principal investigators should do about it.

Reading Frames

Opinion: The Uncomfortable Limits of Human Knowledge

Does science describe experience or truth?

Foundations

a drawing of one of Ruysch's creations, featuring fetal skeletons

Deathly Displays, circa 1662–1731

Frederik Ruysch’s collections blended specimens for scientific discovery with macabre art.

Infographics

Interactive: Biomarkers in Blood Provide a Window into the Brain

A look at some of the circulating molecules that may indicate various Alzheimer’s pathologies and serve as the bases of noninvasive tests for the disease.