Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: The Venus of Willendorf, a limestone figurine that is ∼11 cm high and dated 22,000-24,000 BC, was found in 1908 by the archaeologist Josef Szombathy near the town of Willendorf in Austria, and is now displayed in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is the most famous of a series of Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines found in middle Europe. Often described as mother goodness or as an amulet of fertility, it has also been heralded as the first example of obesity in human evolutionary history. Although it is unlikely that any human being who endured the fast and famines of the Paleolithic age would have had the chance to become obese, the figurine's enigmatic nature and round shape perfectly represent the mystery of why we are 'The obese species'. Image credit: Matthias Kabel; adapted under the GNU Free Documentation License. - PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of contents
Foreword
In This Issue
Research Highlights
Editorial
Journal Club
Fasting, feasting and the glutamatergic synapse
Summary and comment on a recent Neuron paper entitled ‘Fasting activation of AgRP neurons requires NMDA receptors and involves spinogenesis and increased excitatory tone’ (Liu et al., 2012).
A Model For Life
Leading the charge in leptin research: an interview with Jeffrey Friedman
Jeffrey Friedman is a molecular geneticist whose group, in 1994, reported the long-sought identity and function of leptin (Zhang et al., 1994), a key fat-derived hormone that regulates feeding behaviour and body weight. This represented a massive step forward in our understanding of obesity, which is now one of the world’s fastest-growing health problems. Here, he recalls his journey of discovery and offers his perspective on the future of obesity research.
Obituary
Zofia Zukowska
The death of Zofia Zukowska, on April 15, 2012, represents the loss of a vibrant and energetic leader in the fields of stress physiology and neuropeptide Y (NPY) biology.
At A Glance
Special Article
Commentaries
Research Articles
Accelerated renal disease is associated with the development of metabolic syndrome in a glucolipotoxic mouse model
Elaidyl-sulfamide, an oleoylethanolamide-modelled PPARα agonist, reduces body weight gain and plasma cholesterol in rats
Research Reports
New Special Issue: Translating Multiscale Research in Rare Disease. Edited by Monica Justice, Monkol Lek, Karen Liu and Kate Rauen.
This special issue features original Research, Resources & Methods and Review-type articles that aim to interrogate the mechanisms of rare diseases to foster meaningful clinical progress in their diagnosis and treatment.
The role of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) guidelines in disease modelling
The ISSCR provides comprehensive guidelines and standards for using human stem cells in biomedical research. In this Editorial, Cody Juguilon and Joseph Wu discuss how and why these should be incorporated in disease modelling research.
Subject collection: Building advocacy into research
DMM’s series - Building advocacy into research - features interviews, ‘The Patient’s Voice’, with patients and advocates for a range of disease types, with the aim of supporting the highest quality research for the benefit of all patients affected by disease.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register your interest to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
