Contents for the Winter 2009 Issue

Biology
Dartmouth researchers discover a protein methylation pathway in Chlamydomonas flagella
Cobalamin-independent methionine synthase (MetE), a flagellar protein in Chlamydomonas, has been discovered as a key component to the assembly and/or disassembly of the cellular flagellum, as reported by Dartmouth researchers Roger Sloboda, Megan Ulland, and Mark Schneider in Molecular Biology of the Cell in October.
Recent [...]

As the second quarter in the 2009 fiscal year comes to a close, the United States finds itself in a state of economic recession (1). Federal authorities, corporate heads, and the average Joe alike have felt the impact of the new seven-year, 48-year, even all-time lows across the economic and financial sectors (2). Somewhere among [...]

In a society that regards the health of the patient with utmost importance, it is an odd fact that the most common mode of medical teaching for physicians is to learn through on-the-job training — creating an environment that puts the patient at risk. Until recently, on-the-job training was the only way to learn medicine. [...]

Tuberculosis (TB) has affected human beings since Neolithic times (1).  In ancient Greece it was known as phthisis, which means “wasting.” During the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe it caused the “White Plague” and was known as consumption, accounting for 25 percent of all adult deaths during this period (2).  These two names reflect [...]

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Human Papillomavirus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus
From influenza to smallpox to Ebola, viruses, some of the smallest and most intriguing infectious agents, have long plagued society. To scientists, understanding viral mechanisms of infection is critical to learning how to combat them. The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was [...]

As visual creatures, humans believe what they see. We rely on our vision for macroscopic observations. Vast advances in microscopy now also enable visualization of cellular and sub-cellular structures. However, even the best microscopes cannot directly view molecular-level processes such as gene expression or protein interaction in vivo. In 1962, scientists found a solution in [...]

Why can the Universe exist as it is now? Physicists have been striving to answer this question. A proposed theory is “broken symmetry.” In 2008, the Nobel Prize committee recognized significant contribution of three Japanese scientists in the field of symmetry.
On October 7, 2008, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the Nobel Prize [...]

Ross Virginia is highly involved at Dartmouth College as a professor of environmental studies, the director of the Institute of Arctic Studies, as well as the principle investigator of the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program IGERT. Furthermore, his influence extends even to Antarctica, where a valley is named after him to honor his [...]

“The economy runs on oil,” said Paul Nadeau, Ph.D. and industry geologist, “and oil may be running out” (1) Understanding oil’s importance, efficiency, predictions about peak oil production and the inherent risks in finding oil is necessary to secure sufficient energy resources needed to meet growing world demands.
Head Honcho
Fossil fuels make up 85 percent of [...]

In 1908, Henry Ford labeled ethanol the fuel of the future.  Ford designed his model-T to run on a combination of gasoline and alcohol, but cars soon traversed the nation on gasoline alone (1).  A hundred years later, environmentally-conscious scientists and policy-makers are turning back to ethanol and other biofuels to find solutions to America’s [...]