By combining a research technique that dates back 136 years with modern molecular genetics, a Johns Hopkins neuroscientist has been able to see how a mammal's brain shrewdly revisits and reuses the same molecular cues to control the complex design of its circuits.

Details of the observation in lab mice, published Dec. 24 in Nature, reveal that semaphorin, a protein found in the developing nervous system that guides filament-like processes, called axons, from nerve cells to their appropriate targets during embryonic life, apparently assumes an entirely different role later on, once axons reach their targets. In postnatal development and adulthood, semaphorins appear to be regulating the creation of synapses -- those connections that chemically link nerve cells.

LA JOLLA, CA-Like a spotlight that illuminates an otherwise dark scene, attention brings to mind specific details of our environment while shutting others out. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies shows that the superior colliculus, a brain structure that primarily had been known for its role in the control of eye and head movements, is crucial for moving the mind's spotlight.

Researchers from the National University of Ireland in Galway have found that adding increasing amounts of disinfectant to cultures of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa resulted in the bacteria adapting in ways to survive the disinfectant itself - no real surprise there. However, the researchers also discovered that the disinfectant exposed bacteria had also developed resistance to a commonly used antibiotic known as ciprofloxacin, without

The title of the paper is "Distributed Fading Memory for Stimulus Properties in the Primary Visual Cortex" and it is the collaboration of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science, Graz University of Technology in Austria. These teams were able to collect data using multielectrode recordings from the primary visual cortex of cats. Then using a 3 visual stimulus's (letters of the alphabet), they recorded brain activity of stimulus-related information in the spiking activity of large ensembles of around 100 neurons.

Dr. Cornelia de Moor and her research team from The University of Nottingham have devised a new method for investigating a novel cancer drug called cordycepin - originally derived from the mushroom, Cordyceps. This rare, and strange parasitic fungus, grows on caterpillars - and has long been used as a ingredient in Chinese medicines.

Biomedical engineers from Boston University have developed a new sequencing technique that eliminates the time-consuming, and often error-prone step of DNA amplification - which will make future genome sequencing both faster and less expensive than any current technologies.

Some videos, photos and history on ferrofluids. The company history of Ferrotec, which used to be Ferrofluidics Corp. states "Magnetic fluids, or ferrofluids, were developed in the 1960's through the sponsorship of NASA, to address the unique requirements of moving liquid fuel in a gravity-free outerspace environment.

As published in Nature's advanced online edition yesterday, researchers from the Beijing Genomics Institute have successfully completed the sequencing and initial analyses of a draft version of the giant panda genome. One surprising discovery is that the Chinese bear lacks any recognizable genes required for digesting its staple food, bamboo.

Even small errors made by cells during protein production can have profound disease effects, and nature has developed ways to uncover these mistakes and correct them. Though in the case of one essential protein building block—the amino acid alanine—nature has been extra careful, developing not one, but two checkpoints in her effort to make sure that this component is used correctly.

Researchers from Stanford University have discovered a relatively simple process for quickly producing lightweight, flexible batteries and super-capacitors out of everyday paper.