Timeline: the march of structural biology

One hundred years ago, we knew very little about biological macromolecules and had no tools available to study their structure. Structural biology is now a mature science. New structures are being solved at an ever-increasing rate and there are important new initiatives to determine all the protein folds that are used by biological systems (structural genomics). This article traces some of the key developments in the field.     

Timeline: Neurospora: a model of model microbes

In the 1940s, studies with Neurospora pioneered the use of microorganisms in genetic analysis and provided the foundations for biochemical genetics and molecular biology. What has happened since this orange mould was used to show that genes control metabolic reactions? How did it come to be the fungal counterpart of Drosophila? We describe its continued use during the heyday of research with Escherichia coli and yeast, and its emergence as a biological model for higher fungi.     

Timeline: Raising the profile of genetics in primary care

Primary care practitioners recognize that genetics is relevant to their daily practice, for example, for detecting and managing the risk of multifactorial disorders and genetic reproductive risks, and, in future, for targeted drug therapy. However, they lack confidence in their ability to apply genetic approaches. In fact, genetics is already ingrained in current practice, and the development of appropriate guidelines and web-based information resources will help practitioners to make personalized genetic risk assessment a part of holistic, patient-oriented primary health care.     

Timeline: exorcizing the animal spirits: Jan Swammerdam on nerve function

For more than 1,500 years, nerves were thought to function through the action of 'animal spirits'. In the seventeenth century, René Descartes conceived of these 'spirits' as liquids or gases, and used the idea to explain reflex action. But he was rapidly proven wrong by a young Dutchman, Jan Swammerdam. Swammerdam's elegant experiments pioneered the frog nerve muscle preparation and laid the foundation of our modern understanding of nerve function.