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It is hard to imagine a world without antimicrobials. Unfortunately, the lifecycle of an antimicrobial does not end with the human or animal to which it was administered, posing challenges for their removal from the environment.

In a recent academic collaboration, scientists discovered another surprising behavior of the Cas9 and Cpf1 enzymes – a behavior which may have implications when developing novel therapies with CRISPR. We spoke with Brett Robb, the Scientific Director for RNA and Genome Editing at New England Biolabs Inc, and Becky Fu (previously a graduate student at Stanford University and now a Postdoctoral fellow at UCSF) to learn more about their research.

Mass spectrometry (MS) was once primarily within the chemist’s domain for molecular structural characterization. MS is now growing in familiarity and popularity for a variety of clinical applications; from laboratory tests for analyte quantification, to diagnostic applications in infectious disease, inborn errors of metabolism, and cancer, including a foray into the surgeon’s suite.

There is a growing underbelly of conferences that seem like the real thing but have none of the editorial standards expected by academics and have developed a reputation for advertising with fake agendas and high prices. A chance investigation took us inside one of these predatory conferences and has uncovered how predatory science has ensnared scientists at every level.

Gauging global attitudes to science and health is no easy task, but it was the goal of The Wellcome Global Monitor – a survey of over 140,000 people aged 15 and older, from more than 140 countries. The findings present an unprecedented view of the relationship between science and society worldwide, which were discussed by leaders at the launch event in Washington D.C.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. Director of the National Institutes of Health, has recently directly addressed the issue of underrepresented groups in science: "Too often, women and members of other groups underrepresented in science are conspicuously missing in the marquee speaking slots at scientific meetings and other high-level conferences.”

The infectious agents that continually assault our bodies are many and diverse. Even just a few decades ago, diseases such as smallpox and typhoid were killing millions every year and some still are. Thankfully for us, at least for some diseases, this picture has changed, and the development of vaccines has played a not insignificant role in this achievement.

Cells like to move it, move it! Understanding the mechanisms behind cell migration represents an important piece to the puzzle of many fundamental biological processes and pathologies. This article delves into textbook models of cell migration, recent insights on movement patterns, and highlights the technology driving cell migration research forward.

The specificity of antibody binding is incredibly important for many research disciplines, yet sourcing the best antibody for your research can be a challenge. This is partly because not all suppliers validate their antibodies sufficiently. How much of a problem is this?

When developing diagnostic tests or evaluating results, it is important to understand how reliable those tests and therefore the results you are obtaining are. By using samples of known disease status, values such as sensitivity and specificity can be calculated that allow you to evaluate just that.