Aristotle’s saying “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is as true today as it was in the mid-300s B.C.E., especially when it comes to sharing genomic and other kinds of biomedical data.
NIH alum Theodore Friedmann may be too modest to brag about his pioneering role in gene-therapy research, but the Japan Prize Foundation sure wasn’t when it bestowed its prestigious prize on him and two other scientists earlier this year.
V.I.P.s from China met with U.S. health officials at NIH recently; new directors have been appointed to head two institutes; and a Congressman visited NIDA labs.
Research highlights: advances in diagnosing coronary heart disease; high-resolution 3D images reveal the muscle mitochondrial power grid; trash-collecting cells go awry and accelerate damage in a blinding eye disease; placenta-on-a-chip lets researchers study the inner workings of the human placenta; body-weight planner is a new resource for achieving healthy weight; a protein plays a significant role in fertilization.
While waiting for the shuttle bus inside the NIH gate, one Friday morning in August, Francisco Sy took this photo with his iPhone. Sy is the director of the Office of Community-Based Participatory Research and Collaboration, in the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Two seventh-grade girls were intently watching three nightcrawlers (earthworms) positioned on a table between wet and dry paper towels. Which direction would they go, the girls wondered. Meanwhile, a previously sassy and nonchalant classmate peered over their shoulders and squealed, “O M G [oh my God], it moved!”
