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Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a molecular biologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is no stranger to the benefits of publishing in the “best" scientific journals; greater impact, wider readership — and career-boosting citations for his junior colleagues’ CVs.

The human body is assaulted by hundreds of thousands of stimuli every day. Sights: A car is coming down the street, so you step out of the way. Sounds: Someone calls your name and you answer. Touch: A glossy magazine arrives in your mailbox and you thumb through its pages.

It starts out just like every other cell. There's nothing strange about it, no mutations, no odd behaviors—nothing that would distinguish it in any way from the countless cells with which it cohabits inside human tissue. Like all its neighbors, this cell multiplies only when it receives strict orders from its host tissue.

Hamlet provided one of the zippiest summations of the connections among life forms: “A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.” Of course, fishing with flies hath also been popular. The flies and worms in this story differ from those preferred by fisherfolk.

Amyloid fibers, those clumps of plaque-like proteins that clog up the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures. In laboratory experiments, they are able to withstand extreme heat and cold and powerful detergents that cripple most other proteins.

As genes and proteins continue to take center stage in molecular biology, molecules called microRNAs are starting to make inroads. These microRNAs, which are unusually small when compared to other RNAs in the cell, have captured the attention of biologists with their capacity to regulate genes, an ability that one day may have therapeutic value.

Last month, 152 high school students ceded much of their cherished week-long school vacation, putting their X-Boxes and PlayStations, trips to the mall, and skateboard activities on hold, in order to spend some quality time with Whitehead scientists during the Spring Lecture Series for High School Students.

Many scientists claim public opposition to biotechnology is primarily a product of ignorance. But a report published by researchers at the University of Trento in Italy may contradict that belief. The researchers found that access to scientific information does not necessarily promote postive attitudes about biotechnology.

The Office of Communications and Public Affairs has received a Gold Medal for Excellence in Science News Writing for a package of articles about Whitehead research on prions, microRNAs, the Y chromosome and efforts to create a biological library of molecules with drug-development potential.

Scientists have known for some time that mutations in a gene named MeCP2 lead to Rett syndrome, a major cause of mental retardation in girls. Now, a Whitehead Institute research team has provided evidence for the long accepted, but previously unproven theory that Rett syndrome is caused by loss of MeCP2 exclusively in neurons.