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Dear Salk community,
Things have not slowed down this summer at Salk. We've celebrated the completion of our teak restoration project, established an endowment to preserve our architecture for the future, and we are now gearing up for the 22
nd
annual Symphony at Salk.
Salk science has been equally robust. Plant biology garnered media attention with
Joe Ecker's new technique to determine which proteins in a cell interact with each other, and the discovery by
Saket Navlakha,
Charles Stevens and
Joanne Chory that the mathematical rules governing how plants grow are similar to how brain cells sprout connections.
From the lab of
Dmitry Lyumkis came news of a revolutionary microscopy technique that better reveals protein structures, and
Pamela Maher in
David Schubert's lab found further evidence that a compound in strawberries reduces cognitive deficits and inflammation associated with aging in mice.
Be on the look out next week for a groundbreaking discovery from Salk Associate Professor
Clodagh O'Shea.
Please read on for more Institute news.
Yours in Discovery,
Elizabeth Blackburn
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Nearly 100 people attended the June 27 unveiling ceremony of the newly restored teak window systems at the Salk Institute. The unveiling culminated a multi-year conservation effort by the Getty Conservation Institute and Salk. Also announced at the ceremony was the launch of an endowment designed to address ongoing preservation of the Salk Institute's Modernist structure with a gift from the son of Jonas Salk, Jonathan Salk, and his wife Elizabeth Shepherd.
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New method to rapidly map the "social networks" of proteins
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A new mapping method lets researchers discover new links between groups of plant proteins.
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Joseph Ecker and collaborators at UC San Diego have developed a new high-throughput technique to determine which proteins in a cell interact with each other. Mapping this network of interactions, or "interactome," has been slow-going in the past because the number of interactions that could be tested at once was limited. The new approach, published June 26 in
Nature Methods, lets researchers test millions of relationships between thousands of proteins in a single experiment.
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How plants grow like human brains
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This illustration represents how plants use the same rules to grow under widely different conditions.
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Plants and brains are more alike than you might think: Salk scientists
Saket Navlakha,
Charles Stevens and
Joanne Chory discovered that the mathematical rules governing how plants grow are similar to how brain cells sprout connections. The work, published in
Current Biology on July 6, 2017, and based on data from 3D laser scanning of plants, suggests there may be universal rules of logic governing branching growth across many biological systems.
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Tilted microscopy technique better reveals protein structures
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Just as looking at a soup can from various angles allows you to better understand its shape, viewing proteins at a tilt reveals different aspects of their structure. |
The conventional way of placing protein samples under an electron microscope during cryo-EM experiments may fall flat when it comes to getting the best picture of a protein's structure. In some cases, tilting a sheet of frozen proteins as it lies under the microscope, gives higher quality data and could lead to a better understanding of a variety of diseases, according to research led by Helmsley-Salk Fellow
Dmitry Lyumkis and published in
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More evidence shows natural plant compound may reduce mental effects of aging
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Pamela Maher
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Pamela Maher, a senior scientist in the lab of
David Schubert, has found further evidence that a natural compound in strawberries reduces cognitive deficits and inflammation associated with aging in mice. The work, which appeared in the
Journals of Gerontology Series A
, builds on the team's previous research into the antioxidant fisetin, finding it could help treat age-related mental decline and conditions like Alzheimer's or stroke.
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Pioneering Salk innovation advances groundbreaking research
An advance based on fundamental research from the Salk made headlines in
Wired
magazine this month.
Wired
noted that a method developed by
Ed Callaway
to trace neuronal connections with a modified rabies virus is being used by researchers at Dartmouth University to better understand visual circuits.
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The 22
nd
annual Symphony at Salk featuring the San Diego Symphony and David Foster & Friends has sold out. To get on the waitlist for the August 26 concert, visit
www.salk.edu/symphony
or call (858) 597-0657.
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Save the Date!
Mark your calendar for October 4, 2017, the date of the first Salk Women & Science Design and Discovery Fashion Showcase.
For more information, contact
Betsy Collins
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Salk Institute
wallpaper images
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From imposing architecture to multi-hued microscopy, Salk posts more than just a pretty picture on Instagram. You can check out the Institute in all its photographic splendor at:
www.instagram.com/salkinstitute/
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Your support makes it possible for Salk to recruit and retain top-tier scientists, acquire the latest cutting-edge technology, and fuel innovative research initiatives, all of which provide extraordinary opportunities for scientific discovery.
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| Salk Institute | 10010 N Torrey Pines Rd | La Jolla | CA | 92037 | www.salk.edu |
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