Reviews & Analysis

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  • DNase-chip and DNase-array: similar names for two different new approaches that give a genomic perspective to the conventional DNase I hypersensitivity assay used to measure chromatin accessibility.

    • Paul G Giresi
    • Jason D Lieb
    News & Views
  • Two methods give genetics researchers new ways to uncover different forms of genomic structural variation. Based on a novel application of existing PCR technologies, they promise to make the study of DNA rearrangements accessible to a wider field.

    • Andrew Sharp
    News & Views
  • A new method that barcodes cells by assigning different intensities of fluorescent dyes to differently treated samples allows the simultaneous processing of a large number of samples, as one pool, thus increasing the throughput of multidimensional cytometry.

    • James W Jacobberger
    News & Views
  • A deceptively simple signal processing method allows researchers to quantify complex and irregular patterns of high frequency neuronal activity in whole brain at single-neuron resolution by deconvolving the slow Ca2+ signals generated by neuronal spikes.

    • Ben W Strowbridge
    News & Views
  • The tight interaction between the small molecule biotin and the tetrameric protein streptavidin is widely exploited for many different applications in protein science. In this issue, researchers present the design of a monovalent streptavidin tetramer with a single biotin binding site and demonstrate its enhanced properties over wild-type streptavidin for use in cell-surface protein labeling.

    • Guillaume Lemercier
    • Kai Johnsson
    News & Views
  • A new approach to generating large quantities of myeloid progenitor cells ex vivo will facilitate detailed studies of normal white blood cell differentiation and of abnormalities leading to blood disorders such as leukemia.

    • Dan A Liebermann
    • Barbara Hoffman
    News & Views
  • A recently developed multigene viral expression system is put to work to generate mice carrying a single T-cell receptor (TCR) specificity. Complementing the transgenic-mice technique, this method offers new practical options to researchers studying T-cell development.

    • RĂ©my Bosselut
    News & Views
  • A simple 'smart-pooling' screening strategy for large-scale systems biology experiments promises to provide considerable improvement in experimental efficiency, while simultaneously allowing improved accuracy and coverage.

    • Nicolas Thierry-Mieg
    News & Views
  • Intracellular protein-protein interactions form the basis of most biological processes. Structural aspects of these reactions can now be analyzed in living prokaryotic cells and in atomic detail by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

    • Philipp Selenko
    • Gerhard Wagner
    News & Views
  • Understanding of the sequelae of cerebral microvascular injury has been hampered by a lack of animal models to enable precise localization of injury. In this issue, Nishimura et al. describe a stroke model that couples two-photon laser-scanning mapping of the cerebral cortex with femtosecond laser technology to produce three distinct microvascular injuries characterized by hemorrhage, vessel leakage or vessel occlusion.

    • Robert Flaumenhaft
    • Eng H Lo
    News & Views
  • The short nature of microRNAs (miRNAs) has presented unique obstacles to experimental biologists. Two research papers in this issue of Nature Methods describe solutions to some of these problems and provide high-resolution data on the expression patterns of these tiny regulatory RNAs.

    • Scott M Hammond
    News & Views
  • A new carefully optimized and characterized genetically encoded fluorescent sensor for cyclic GMP (cGMP) has fast kinetics and properties that should make it an excellent compromise between sensitivity and specificity when compared to existing sensors.

    • Kees Jalink
    News & Views
  • A new caging group based on the nitrodibenzofuran chromophore has been developed with improved photochemical properties for both ultraviolet and two-photon photolysis applications, providing a new tool for the rapid and efficient release of calcium ions for biological studies.

    • Wen-Hong Li
    News & Views