Breaking Report: in vivo RNAi & muscles

Also on my desk today, an in vivo RNAi screen for gene involved in formation and function of muscles. An interesting report--and with beautiful fluorescence images.

Schnorrer et al. (2010) Systematic genetic analysis of muscle morphogenesis and function in Drosophila. Nature. Mar 11;464(7286):287-91. PMID: 2022084

Breaking Report: RNAi on RNA

On my desk today? A report that uses RNAi to study an aspect of RNA biology--in this case, knockdown of specific exosome factors followed by genome-wide analysis of mRNAs is used to gain insight into exosome functions.

Kiss & Andrulis (2010) Genome-wide analysis reveals distinct substrate specificities of Rrp6, Dis3, and core exosome subunits. RNA 16: 781-791. doi: 10.1261/rna.1906710

What's on my desk today? A pile!

• Conrad and Gerlich (2010) Automated microscopy for high-content RNAi screening. In the Journal of Cell Biology.
• Collinet et al. (2010) Systems survey of endocytosis by multiparametric image analysis. In Nature.
• Zhang et al. (2010) Expression in Aneuploid Drosophila S2 Cells. In PLos Biology (open access).

Let's get reading!

Quote of the Week: Tension

... it is the small or minute organisms, or small cellular elements of larger organisms, whose forms will be governed by surface-tension; while the forms of the larger organisms are due to other and non-molecular forces.

from Sir D'Arcy Thompson, On Growth and Form (Abridged Edition, Cambridge University Press, 1961).