Why the frog?

There's a new addition to this issue of Wellcome News – a short section highlighting some of the content featured on our Human Genome website. Launched in April 2003 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix, the site aims to provide an accessible overview of the human genomes and genetics, and of their medical and social impact.

As well as the feature-type articles included here, it also has a wealth of background information and regular news articles. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at www.wellcome.ac.uk/genome. If there are things you think are missing - either to the site or printed accompaniments such as this - do let us know by e-mailing genome@wellcome.ac.uk

Elsewhere there is something for everyone in this issue. Our Research Directions include two very contrasting projects – one on a very promising treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, using antibodies against a key inflammatory mediator (see [brokenlink] Interleukin intervention), and one on the growing problem of diseases carried by ticks in Eastern Europe (see [brokenlink] Ticks and politics).

Our series on model organisms hops on to the frog (see [brokenlink] Why the frog?), and we profile a technique of growing scientific and medical interest - RNA interference (see [brokenlink] Silencing is golden). In the public engagement arena, we feature a small selection of the many wonderful photographs submitted to the 'Imagine' competition (see [brokenlink] Portraits of our genes), run in partnership with the BBC, and take a look at a new site where science and society can engage in a meaningful fashion - the Dana Centre in the Wellcome Wolfson Building (see [brokenlink] Public space).

To round things off, we venture to Mongolia, where an intrepid medical researcher is assessing the impact of the tight swaddling of babies, a culturally deeply rooted behaviour in this region (see [brokenlink] Defying the dzud). Most bizarre, though, is the discovery of an early Yugoslavian 'lads' mag' - the splendidly named Cik - in the archive of Francis Crick (see [brokenlink] Crick and Cik). An indication of his taste in literature? Actually, the issue includes a long cartoon strip on the pioneering work of 'Votson, Vilkins and Krik'. Sadly, we couldn't find a Cik website, to see if they had continued to follow the DNA story. Wellcome News readers are encouraged to try the Human Genome site instead.

The Editor

IMAGE CREDITS
All images, unless otherwise stated below, are from the Wellcome Trust's [brokenlink] Medical Photographic Library. Historical images are from material held in the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Material can be viewed at the Wellcome Library or copies obtained through the Medical Photographic Library.

NEWS SECTION

•Attacking AIDS
Image: New multinational clinical trial suggests that antiviral drugs may protect HIV-specific immune cells, boosting their ability to subdue the virus in the body (UNAIDS).

•Asia-Pacific funding
Image: Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, with Suzanne Blumhardt, New Zealand's Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, and Michael L'Estrange, Australia's High Commissioner to the UK.

•Ethics and governance of UK Biobank
Image: UK Biobank promo imagery (Photodisc).

•Imagine winners
Image: 'Collage of faces', a prize-winning entry in the schools category (Old Palace School of John Whitgift, Croydon).

ANALYSIS SECTION

•Why the frog?
Front image: Xenopus laevis, the African clawed frog.
Back image: Unfertilized eggs ovulated after a dose of human chorionic gonadotrophin (Professor J Slack).

•Silencing is golden: RNA interference
Front image: Petunia.
Back image: RNAi identified a new gene involved in cell polarity. In a normal embryo, PAR-2 (stained green) is found only at the posterior; in the mutant, it is distributed throughout the embryo (J Ahringer).

•Public space: Dana Centre
Image: The Wellcome Wolfson Building houses the Dana Centre, which will explore innovative approaches to engage people in science, such as drama, dance and comedy.

•Portraits of our genes: 'Imagine' photographic competition
Front image: What might it be like to have several clones together at school? Runner-up prize in the schools category. (Richard Aldworth School, Basingstoke).

RESEARCH DIRECTIONS SECTION

•Ticks and politics: Tick-borne diseases in Eastern Europe
Image: Satellite data on vegetation provides important information on tick survival.

•Interleukin intervention: Rheumatoid arthritis
Front image: Finger joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis.
Back image: Professor Eddy Liew.

POLYPTYCH SECTION

•Defying the dzud: Swaddling babies in Mongolia
Images: Swaddling is a deeply rooted childcare practice in Mongolia. Baby and parent outside their ger, a traditional nomadic tent (Dr S Manaseki-Holland).

•Interactive learning: Schools in Hackney
Image: Students from Kingsland School working on a video project at Highwire in Hackney, London.

•Crick and Cik: Archiving the Francis Crick papers
Front image: Within the Francis Crick archives, a magazine from Belgrade with the title 'Cik' with its girl-in-a-bikini cover (published in 1973) was found.
Back image: Within the magazine 'Cik' was a DNA cartoon strip – spread across two pages in 20 frames – called Molekul Gospodar.

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Editorial
Editor: Ian Jones

Editorial Staff: Kathryn Merritt and Lucy Moore

Writers: Penny Bailey (PB), Rachel Hillman (RH), Deirdre Janson-Smith (DJS), Dr Giles Newton (GN), John Pickrell (JP), Richard M Twyman (RMT)

Online Editor: Paul Tam

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any shape or form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the Wellcome Trust. The views and opinions expressed by writers within Wellcome News do not necessarily reflect those of the Wellcome Trust, Editorial Board or Editor. No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

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