Features

Microscopy as Masterpiece

A Beautiful Way to Study Neurons

BY LAURA STEPHENSON CARTER

Perhaps only a scientist can find the beauty within a locust brain. An image—looking like mirrored, psychedelic-colored mushrooms—captured by Mark Stopfer—reveals the intricacies of neurons in the brain of the Schistocerca Americana locust.

The NIH Big Read

A Review of Inaugural Event with Writer Siddhartha Mukherjee

BY HAYLEY RAQUER, NIAID

Excitement built throughout NIH this spring when NIH’s inaugural Big Read program had dozens of people reading and discussing Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book, The Gene: An Intimate History. Then, on April 17, the Big Read culminated with an appearance by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author himself to discuss his book and meet his fans.

Going the Distance

Teresa Przytycka: Driven by Curiosity and Big Dreams

BY KATHRYN MCKAY, NLM

If you ask computational biologist Teresa Przytycka where she’s from, and she’s likely to quip, “Do you mean geographically or scientifically?”

Both answers cover long distances for her. Her journey, which began in Poland many years ago, has brought her to NIH where she’s a senior investigator in the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

NIEHS Team Reports How Oxidative Stress Kills Cells

A Key to Understanding the Origins of Some Human Diseases

BY ROBIN ARNETTE, NIEHS

Humans need energy to function, so it might be hard to imagine how a naturally occurring process that generates power for the body can also harm its cells. But it does, noted Samuel Wilson and members of his NIEHS DNA Repair and Nucleic Acid Enzymology Group.

Delayed Walking May Signal Spontaneous Gene Anomalies in Autism

Distinct Behavioral Profiles Linked to “High Confidence” ASD Risk Genes

BY JULES ASHER, NIMH

A team of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) intramural and grant-supported researchers has discovered a pattern of behavioral and genetic features seen in some cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that could ultimately lead to identification of subgroups and improved treatment.

WALS Superstars

NIH’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series Features Nobel Laureates and Other Science Stars

BY VIVIANNE CALLIER, NEI; ALEJANDRO CHIBLY, NIDCR; AND LAURA S. CARTER

The 2016–2017 NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS) has featured a parade of science superstars including geneticist George Church (pictured), Nobel Laureates, and other equally important scientists.