In Print

From Focus:
Skin Grown from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Photo by Graham Ramsay

In an important step toward the therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells, HMS researchers have found a way to improve the production of skin cells from a human embryonic stem cell line. In the study, Howard Green and colleagues identified some unexpected barriers to the growth and purification of skin cells derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells. While a human ES cell line readily differentiated into keratinocyte-like cells, the poor growth of the cells made them impossible to expand or purify. Introducing growth-promoting viral genes into the skin cells solved these problems and allowed the production of skinlike sheets from single cells.

Student Scene

Image by Rachel Eastwood

Faking Science
In the last 10 years, Photoshop and other imaging software has made it easy and tempting to alter scientific images for innocent or fraudulent purposes. The issue recently became headline news due to scandals involving fabricated data, including manipulated images. The incidents have provoked discussions about acceptable standards for altering image data and debate about the responsibilities of researchers, journals, and scientific institutions for making and enforcing these rules. At HMS, the associate director of the Division of Medical Ethics, Walter Robinson, teaches a course addressing these issues.

Lab Works

Spotlight

Invitational Award List Available Online
Each year a range of postdoctoral and faculty fellowships and grants is available to the HMS community by invitation only. Potential candidates must first apply to HMS since they cannot apply directly for these awards. Updated information on the next cycle of fellowships and grants is available online, beginning Monday, Feb. 13. The deadline for applications is April 10.

The Second Year Show: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Fornix”

Upcoming

Countway Library Exhibit and Symposium
Sages, Scholars, and Healers: Judaica from the Solomon M. Hyams Collection of the Boston Medical Library
March 1
10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

• John Efron
University of California, Berkeley
• Gad Freudenthal
Yale University
• Charles Berlin
Harvard University
• Joseph Shatzmiller
Duke University
• Sander L. Gilman
Emory University

StudenTalk

Personal takes on issues inside and outside the classroom.