It is now possible to map the activity of nearly all the neurons in a vertebrate brain at cellular resolution. What does this mean for neuroscience research and projects like the Brain Activity Map proposal? Read more
September’s Editorial praises the new research that more genetic rodent models will enable. However, manipulating important genes in a mouse is not enough. Experimental techniques are also needed. Perhaps nowhere is this more important—and more difficult—than using animals to assess neuropsychiatric diseases. While much can be learned on the level of brain and cell physiology, behavioral tests are important to assess which aspects of physiology are most likely to matter. It’s the behavioral symptoms, not the cell-based ones, that directly affect people’s lives. How useful would a drug be if it cleared away the telltale plaques of Alzheimer’s patients but did nothing to preserve their memories? Read more
Although rats are detested, or at least tolerated, by the majority of people, some individuals find much to admire in them. Among these people are researchers who rely on the rat as an excellent animal model for biological research. The Editorial in the June issue of Nature Methods describes how genetic technologies are opening up new possibilities for research using rats and how researches could benefit by considering rats for their own study. Below is a limited selection of rat resources for those wishing to find out more about this indespensible laboratory animal. Read more
For geneticists working on model organisms, the job is all about linking genotype and phenotype. But nowadays, these researchers are facing a historical reversal in terms of experimental limitations. As more microarrays and other genomic tools become available—and hopefully increasingly affordable—the genotyping part of the problem, which traditionally has been most time-consuming, is not that complicated anymore. The real bottleneck is now phenotyping. Read more
Recent comments on this blog
Let’s give statistics the attention it deserves
Let’s give statistics the attention it deserves
Guidelines for algorithms and software in Nature Methods