Switching genes between organisms and controlling an animal's brain using lasers may seem like science fiction, but with advancements in a technique called optogenetics, such experiments are now common in neuroscience research. Optogenetics combines recombinant DNA technology with a controlled light source to help researchers address…

Biomedical research has produced vast amounts of new information in the last decade but has been slow to find its use in clinical applications. Data from disparate sources such as genetic studies and summary data from published literature have been amassed, but there is a significant gap, primarily due to a lack of normative methods, in combining…

Sequencing of the human genome has ushered in a new era of biology. The technologies developed to facilitate the sequencing of the human genome are now being applied to the sequencing of other genomes. In 2004, a partnership was formed between Washington University School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center's Outreach Program and Washington…