DNA 50
01 February 2003 publication
The lead articles of the February 2003 issue of Microbiology Today are on DNA: then and now; bacteria and DNA repair; RNA virus replication; gene therapy; come the revolution; Artemis: the Goddess of the Hunt; the 19th century anti-vaccination movement; and rabies in Great Britain.
DNA 50: then and now (p. 03)
The Society's President, Sir David Hopwood, FRS gives an overview of the topics covered and notes the enormous amountof progress made in our knowledge of molecular biology over the past half century.
Microbiology and me in 1952 (p. 04)
Former Society President and distinguished writer John Postgate looks back at the state of microbiology in 1952, the year when Jim Watson made a presentation at a Society meeting.
Exploiting genomes: bases to megabases in 50 years (p. 06)
The Symposium Exploiting genomes: bases to megabases in 50 years is being organised by H. Jenkinson, P. Oyston, I. Sutclife, J. Parkhill and D. Kelly and will take place at the 153rd Meeting of the Society of General Microbiology.
Bacteria and DNA repair - 50 years together (p. 08)
From the discovery of the double helix it has taken 50 years of intense study to understand DNA repair. As Peter Strike writes, nearly all key breakthroughs have come from work with bacterial cells.
Base-pairing in RNA virus replication and host plant defence (p. 12)
Recent research has shown that host defence against plant virus infection can be 'switched on' by replication of the viral RNA, as Mike Mayo describes.
Gene therapy in the treatment of disease (p. 14)
Gene therapy offers great potential in treating diseases such as cancer. Stacey Efstathiou explores the current state of knowledge, focusing on the use of viral vectors.
Come the revolution (p. 16)
Microbiological research has been revolutionised by the recent rapid progress in sequencing microbial genomes. Stephen Bentley explains how this came about and the exciting potential waiting to be realised.
Artemis: the Goddess of the Hunt (p. 19)
Recently the Society and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have held some very successful bioinformatics workshops. Nick Thomson, one of the tutors, explains what went on.
The impact on public health of the 19th century anti-vaccination movement (p. 22)
Today smallpox vaccination is an issue of public concern due to the threat of bioterrorism. Yet a different aspect of this topic was a cause of controversy more than a century ago, as Colin Howard describes.
Gradline (p. 36)
Jane Westwell gives an update on various postgrad events. Saimon Malhotra reports back from the ASM Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.
Schoolzone (p. 38)
Read about the variety of events and resources available for schools and teaching.
Going public (p. 40)
Sarah Watkinson describes her experience at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition.
Comment - the significance of European Bat Lyssavirus infection in Great Britain (p. 52)
A bat conservationist in Scotland died recently from a form of rabies after being bitten by an infected animal. This caused much media attention, but how much of a risk does bat lyssavirus pose to human health in the UK?
Cover image credit: Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library