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The Transgender Brain

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MARCH 2018 | WWW.THE-SCIENTIST.COM The Transgender Brain RESEARCHERS SEEK CLUES TO THE ORIGINS OF GENDER DYSPHORIA ANCIENT PROTEINS UNEARTHED AUTOPHAGY IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH GETTING CRISPR ON TARGET PLUS HOW TO FORGE ACADEMIC/INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS Your ULT freezers should be as revolutionary as your research . With a Stirling Ultracold freezer . Stirling Engine Your samples will never be safer. Because there are no compressors, the field-proven The free-piston Stirling Stirling Engine continuously modulates and adapts to engine's advanced maintain remarkable temperature stability. With no oil integral linear motor or valves to maintain and only two moving parts, there system has only two Thermosiphon moving parts and is simply far less that can go wrong with our cooling uses a gravity-driven system. thermosiphon to cool the cabinet interior. Your energy costs will never be lower. 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MARCH 2018 Contents THE SCIENTIST THE-SCIENTIST.COM VOLUME 32 NUMBER 3 Features ON THE COVER: ILLUSTRATION BY ANA YAEL 26 34 42 The Transgender Brain The Ghosts of Proteins Past Eating Yourself to Live Researchers are probing the neural roots The field of paleoproteomics is gathering As researchers uncover new molecular of gender dysphoria. steam in its quest to use ancient peptides details of the process of autophagy, BY SHAWNA WILLIAMS to explore the history of life on Earth. potential therapeutic targets emerge. BY CATHERINE OFFORD BY VIKRAMJIT LAHIRI AND DANIEL J. KLIONSKY © ANA YAEL; CHRISTINA WARINNER; © N.R. FULLER, SAYO-ART LLC © N.R. FULLER, SAYO-ART WARINNER; CHRISTINA © ANA YAEL; 03.2018 | THE SCIENTIST 3 BioResearch What if... … I could get more donors for my cells? … I could get expert tech support with the cells I buy? … my selfie from last night’s party gets a million “likes”? Solving Today’s Primary Cell Culture Challenges For more than 30 years, researchers have been relying on Lonza for consistent product quality and excellent support to overcome their cell culture challenges. We can’t help you get a million likes, but we can help you get cells from different donors, develop a new 3D model, or set up a co-culture. By partnering with Lonza for primary cells, you get access to: – A brand well-recognized by leading scientific journals – Over 20 donors for many cell types, including normal and diseased cells – Optimized growth media for each cell type – User-friendly protocols and publications – A scientific support team cross-trained in cells, media and 3D culture Skeletal Muscle Cells and Media Learn the benefits of primary cells. Request a free copy of our infographic on our website. ©2017 Lonza. All trademarks belong to Lonza or its affiliates. The information contained herein is believed to be correct. No warranty is made, either expressed or implied. www.lonza.com/primarycells MARCH 2018 Department Contents 11 FROM THE EDITOR 60 CAREERS The Skin We’re In Don’t Wait, Collaborate How can science inform the debate Academic and industry researchers on gender? have come up with various strategies BY BOB GRANT to help their collaborations succeed. BY ASHLEY P. TAYLOR 15 NOTEBOOK Something’s Fishy; Forensic Justice; 63 READING FRAMES Delaying Death; Tough Choices Holding Down the Lab During World War I, female scientists 25 MODUS OPERANDI stepped in to keep research labs run- Precision Optogenetics ning. But a century later, the struggle A newly engineered, localizable opsin for equality in science still rages. protein enables single-neuron BY PATRICIA FARA 15 stimulation with high temporal precision. 68 FOUNDATIONS BY RUTH WILLIAMS The Child Hatchery, 1896 BY CATHERINE OFFORD 50 THE LITERATURE The space between the layers IN EVERY ISSUE of a bacterium’s envelope alters 10 CONTRIBUTORS intercellular communication; 12 SPEAKING OF SCIENCE lymphocytes shoot web-like strands 64 THE GUIDE of DNA for defense; new proteins 65 RECRUITMENT emerge from transcriptomics research CORRECTIONS: In “Flies R Us” (The Scientist, February 2018) the order of image credits 52 PROFILE should have read Xiao-Long Lin; Chun-Tang Chen. Parasitologist, Reprogrammed In “Robotic Healers” (The Scientist, February 2018) MIT’s Hugh Herr was incorrectly identified as Conor Walsh’s postdoctoral advisor. He was, in After discovering a novel organelle fact, Walsh’s graduate advisor. 50 found in protozoan parasites, The Scientist regrets the errors. David Roos created a widely used eukaryotic pathogen database. BY ANNA AZVOLINSKY PUZZLE ON PAGE 12 PUMI CE CANALS 55 SCIENTIST TO WATCH IEA TTP Jermaine Jones: Untangling GAL I LEO LLANO Addiction EODRAVN BY KATARINA ZIMMER OUNCE GOSL I NG NRASE 56 LAB TOOLS BRA I NSTEM Getting On Target TA E I F New techniques for detecting when RORQUA L MA JOR CRISPR is off the mark BY SANDEEP RAVINDRAN ANDLOEO CLOUD EXT I NCT KWE HNH 55 SCLERA SYZYGY GRAYBIEL LAB, MIT; © STEVE GRAEPEL; © ADAM LERNER PHOTOGRAPHY INC LERNER PHOTOGRAPHY GRAEPEL; © ADAM © STEVE LAB, MIT; GRAYBIEL 03.2018 | THE SCIENTIST 5 MARCH 2018 Online Contents THIS MONTH AT THE-SCIENTIST.COM: VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO Point of Order Rapping About Rapamycin Pestilent Spread Watch Niamh Nic Daéid’s TedX Relive the Lasker Award speech See the University of Pennsylvania’s talk about forensic evidence in the from University of Basel biologist David Roos explain the process courtroom. Michael Hall. of parasite replication. AS ALWAYS, FIND BREAKING NEWS EVERY DAY, AND LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS ON INDIVIDUAL STORIES ON OUR WEBSITE. Coming in April HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE: • Tumor macrophages, long thought to exacerbate cancer, may one day be recruited to fight it. • Drug combinations are showing increasing promise in the fight against cancer. • Meet the neuroscientist who persevered through a brain cancer diagnosis and mental illness. • Researchers work to resolve the function of delicate structures that surround neuronal cell bodies. IMAGE PROVIDED BY KE HU AND JOHN M. MURRAY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; © DAVID LITMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM © DAVID COMMONS; KE HU AND JOHN M. MURRAY/WIKIMEDIA BY PROVIDED IMAGE AND MUCH MORE COMMONS; SWITZERLAND/WIKIMEDIA UNIVERSITY OF BASEL, BIOZENTRUM, DEPARTMENT, INGRID SINGH, PHOTO © ISTOCK.COM/DERO2084; 6 THE SCIENTIST | the-scientist.com NGS made Easy Optimize your NGS library preparation with the epMotion® Next-generation sequencing sample > Vast list of qualified NGS kit methods prep is a labor-intensive process, which for easy implementation and high-quality requires experience, precision and NGS libraries accuracy to generate high-quality NGS > High accuracy from 200 nL–1,000 μL libraries. The epMotion can automate > UV light and HEPA air filter option your NGS library prep and eliminate the > Intelligent tools selection shortens risk of pipetting errors, for reproducible run times results, and increased productivity. > Email notification of run status www.eppendorf.com/automation • 800-645-3050 031.A1.0134.A Eppendorf®, the Eppendorf Brand design and epMotion® are registered trademarks of Eppendorf AG, Germany. 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