News

With much of the equipment moved in and research units steadily populating its labs, cubicles, and offices, Lab 2, which opened late last month, is swiftly coming to life.

As we grow, an intricate choreography of genetic controls begins to differentiate our cells, turning some genes off and others up to full-blast, eventually yielding fully-formed animals. Researchers at OIST are working to learn more about this choreography.

In a paper published yesterday in Science, a team of researchers that includes OIST's Nick Luscombe shows that the long-accepted view of how male fruit flies manipulate their genes’ activity should be revised. Their finding shows how cells use a single, crucial regulator to change the activity of large numbers of genes at the same time.

One of the cornerstones of scientific research at OIST is the removal of boundaries between departments and fields, but art conservator Anya McDavis’ work goes one step further, bridging gaps between art, history and science.

The Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, led by Evan Economo, uses classic tools of taxonomy—as well as genomic sequencing and computer modeling—to study how species evolve, move around, and adapt to their environments.

Professor Alexander Mikheyev of the Ecology and Evolution Unit and his collaborator Professor Steven Aird are studying snake venom to better understand the stories it tells.

Using the papilloma and polyoma viruses as subjects, Prof. Matthias Wolf’s team is focusing on how viruses latch on to cells, poke holes in the cell membrane, and inject their genetic material into their hosts, thereby infecting them.

The Trans-Membrane Trafficking Unit is taking a sort of good cop-bad cop approach to one membrane protein complex, using two different means to grill it for information.

Akira Tonomura was a dynamic and creative force who will be missed by the members of OIST and the entire scientific community.

In a recent paper published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Prof. Skoglund and his co-authors describe for the first time the structure of the waterproof part of the skin.

Ken Maeda, a researcher in OIST’s Marine Genomics Unit, has identified a new freshwater goby species on the islands of Okinawa and Iriomote. The species, Stiphodon alcedo, is described in the latest issue of the journal Cybium.

After a neuron fires an electrical impulse, this impulse needs to be chemically transmitted to another neuron to propagate into the neuronal circuit; otherwise communication would grind to a halt. In a paper published on May 10, 2012 in the journal Neuron, researchers at OIST identify a critical part of that chemical transmission.