April 2007

• -Actinin: More than a linker

  A study of actinin–actin binding has revealed novel features – such as length variability and actin monofilament binding – important for the understanding of cytoskeleton dynamics.

  Consortium Updates

  March 2007

• Seed money to bring in pioneers

  California's stem-cell initiative has finally handed out its first research grants, but researchers doubt whether all the money will actually move the field forward.

  Nature

  14 March 2007

• Agencies join forces to share data

  The US government is considering a massive plan to store almost all scientific data generated by federal agencies in publicly accessible digital repositories.

  Nature

  22 March 2007

• Experts call for active surveillance of drug safety

  Data mining of existing health-record databases as an active surveillance system could pick up early warnings of a drug's adverse side effects.

  Nature

  22 March 2007

• Microscopy: Tip-top imaging

  Images of nanoscale structures can be constructed using the flow of electrons ejected from a metal probe tip – a technique that adds a new dimension to established methods of microscopy.

  Nature

  29 March 2007

• Trials race rashly ahead for regulatory immune cells

  Depletion of regulatory T cells rapidly causes massive inflammation and death, suggesting that regulatory immune cells could be an effective treatment for people with autoimmune diseases.

  Nature Medicine

  28 February 2007