Teaching science in the classroom is all very well, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to let your students learn for themselves what it’s really like to work in a research laboratory? Sooike Stoops from the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Belgium, describes a project that does just…
Ages: 14-16, 16-19; Topics: Biology, General science
Is it acceptable to use human embryonic stem cells in research? What about live animals? Professor Nadia Rosenthal, head of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Monterotondo, Italy, talks to Russ Hodge about the ethics of her research.
Why are enzymes so special? How do they differ from inorganic catalysts? Isabella Marini from the University of Pisa, Italy, describes a classroom protocol to enable students to answer these questions for themselves.
We are relative newcomers on Earth and still have a lot to learn. Julian Vincent from the University of Bath, UK, investigates some of the lessons we can learn from the living world.
Russ Hodge from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, reports on the first complete survey of 'molecular machines' in yeast.
When we sleep, are we just passively recovering from a hard day, or is there something more going on? Angelika Börsch-Haubold considers the implications of some intriguing research – was her grandmother right all along? Test the scientists’ conclusions for yourself!
Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, the inventor of DNA fingerprinting, remembers his childhood passion for science, explains what we have learned from direct DNA analysis, and describes his work with Chernobyl survivors. Interviewed by Russ Hodge and Anna-Lynn Wegener from the European Molecular Biology…
Ages: 16-19; Topics: Biology, General science, Chemistry, Science and society
Many of you were fascinated (and disgusted!) by the article about forensic entomology in our last issue. Paula Starbäck, the reviewer, suggested that it would be a fascinating activity for students, if only someone could find a way to avoid the terrible smell. We challenged you to come up with a…
