Issue | May 2016 | Meiosis Mishaps | The Scientist Magazine®

Cover Story

A Scrambled Mess

Karen Schindler | May 1, 2016 | 10+ min read

Why do so many human eggs have the wrong number of chromosomes?

Features

Nanoscale Defenses

Edward D. Marks and Steven Smith | May 1, 2016 | 10 min read

Coating hospital surfaces, surgical equipment, patient implants, and water-delivery systems with nanoscale patterns and particles could curb the rise of hospital-acquired infections.

The Zombie Literature

Bob Grant | May 1, 2016 | 10 min read

Retractions are on the rise. But reams of flawed research papers persist in the scientific literature. Is it time to change the way papers are published?

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the May 2016 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Transparency Now

Science is messy. So lay it out, warts and all.

Speaking of Science

May 2016's selection of notable quotes

Notebook

Serious Putty

A naturally occurring clay, used in traditional Native American medicine, shows promise as an antibiotic.

What’s in a Voice?

More than you think (or could make use of)

Silent Canopies

A spate of howler monkey deaths in Nicaragua, Panama, and Ecuador has researchers scrambling to identify the cause.

Feeling Around in the Dark

Scientists work to unlock the genetic secrets of a population of fruit flies kept in total darkness for more than six decades.

Thought Experiment

The Shrinking Mitochondrion

Scanning the mitochondrial genomes of thousands of species is beginning to shed light on why some genes were lost while others were retained.

Critic at Large

The Global Science Era

As international collaboration becomes increasingly common, researchers must work to limit their own biases and let cultural diversity enhance their work.

Modus Operandi

Sensors for All

A versatile modular strategy for detecting small molecules in eukaryotes

The Literature

Kissing Cousins

Researchers discover a completely novel mechanism of cell signaling involving soluble chemokines and their transmembrane equivalents.

Aneuploid Responses

A recent exchange of papers is divided over the evidence for compensatory gene expression among wild strains of aneuploid yeast.

Animal Magnetism

A photosensitive protein behind the retinas of cockroaches plays a role in light-dependent, directional magnetosensitivity.

Profile

More Than Skin Deep

Elaine Fuchs has worked on adult stem cells since before they were so named, figuring out how multipotent epidermal cells renew or turn into skin or hair follicles.