Angela N H Creager & Hannah Landecker

Conceptual breakthroughs in science tend to garner accolades and attention. But, as the invention of tissue culture and the development of isotopic tracers show, innovative methods open up new fields and enable the solution of longstanding problems.

Hannah Landecker

From histology to microcinematography, from cytochemistry to live cell imaging, the history of visualization technology in the life sciences may be understood as a series of cycles of action and reaction between static and

Piero Carninci

Sequencing-based technologies for RNA discovery are playing a key role in deciphering the transcriptome and hold the potential to provide us with a census of RNAs and their functions.

Michael W Davidson & Robert E Campbell

Despite expansion of the fluorescent protein and optical highlighter palette into the orange to far-red range of the visible spectrum, achieving performance equivalent to that of EGFP has continued to elude protein engineers.

Matthias Mann

The potential of mass spectrometry–based proteomics to advance biology and biomedicine is nearly unlimited but so is its potential for generating bad data. Apart from the pursuit of technological progress in protocols and instruments, stringent comparative analyses of different approaches are critical for fully developing the discipline.

Sean R Collins, Jonathan S Weissman & Nevan J Krogan

A wide range of methodology will be needed to bridge the gap between genome sequence and mechanistic understanding in biology. Recent advances in high-throughput genetic screening address this task.