Imaging: Portraits from life (326 KB)
by Nancy K. McGuire
In the century-plus since X-rays first captured the human skeleton on film, a wide swath of the electromagnetic spectrum has been pressed into service to illuminate various organs and cellular processes. The rise of genomics and proteomics has given added impetus to the drive toward imaging on a microscopic scale, and laser technology has made this possible. Images are commonly presented as tomograms, two-dimensional optical "slices" that portray the structures and processes at a given depth below the surface. Tomographic medical imaging techniques date back to the early 1960s, when D. E. Kuhl and R. Q. Edwards introduced single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), a precursor to today's CT (computed tomography) and PET (positron emission tomography) scans.

The anatomy of metabolism (172 KB)
by Mark S. Lesney
Determining the subtleties of metabolism and anatomical fine structure can differentiate diseases with similar symptoms that demand different therapies. Traditional analysis has been a trade-off between the invasiveness of the technique and the quality of the data obtained. Functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can provide a noninvasive snapshot of metabolism and gene expression. As such, they are becoming invaluable tools for diagnosis and for the study of drug uptake and activity.

Content in Context
Art, elegance, and the helix (35 KB)
by James F. Ryan

News in Brief (206 KB)
Yeast of burden • Mesoporous medicine • Distal distortions, resistant HIV • Lupus solution? • A natural comparison • Gene machine glycobiology • Sloan-Kettering goes herbal • Drug ads

For Your Health
A clockwork human (131 KB)
by Felicia M. Willis
Chronobiology sheds light on many of our behaviors and disorders.

The Time Line
Watson and Crick—Beyond the double helix (82 KB)
by Christopher S. W. Koehler
In very different ways, the two "heroes" of DNA have transformed biology in the 50 years since they burst upon the scientific scene.

Applications NoteBook
A thousand points of blue (83 KB)
by Vicki L. Locke and Dennis B. Rylatt
Researchers rely on charge- and size-based methods to fractionate the proteome.

The Business Page
The Executive Interview (55 KB)
Lissa Goldenstein, Argonaut Technologies: "I like problem solving. I like challenges."
Interviewed by James F. Ryan and Kimberly S. Cleaves

The Tool Box
High (throughput) mass (87 KB)
by David Bradley
For everything from combinatorial library screening to genomic analysis, HTMS is becoming the tool of choice.

Rules and Regulators
Medical meddling? (83 KB)
by Randall C. Willis
Who calls the shots is the question when hospital-run clinical trials are sponsored by industry.

On the Calendar (71 KB)
Mass spec in Montreal

Product Info Now (153 KB)

Diseases and Disorders
Elephantiasis (89 KB)
by Julie L. McDowell