The Scientist - 04.2020

04.2020 | THE SCIENTIST 5

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GEORGE RETSECK; ©

THE ORA LEE SMITH CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Department Contents

APRIL 2020

9 FROM THE EDITOR

Pounds of Prevention

Avoiding illness can be as valuable

as fighting it.

BY BOB GRANT

11 CRITIC AT LARGE

Cannabis May Not Be

a Cancer Pain Panacea

Studies are lacking, and in the high-

quality research that scientists

have published, the results are not

promising.

BY JASON BOLAND AND ELAINE BOLAND

12 NOTEBOOK

Body-Snatching Fungi; Flu Shot

for Tumors; Breaking Away; Blasting

Through Biofilms

21 MODUS OPERANDI

Precision Membrane Puncture

A device for piercing individual

holes in cell membranes allows

vector-free DNA delivery while

maintaining cell viability.

BY RUTH WILLIAMS

46 THE LITERATURE

Stealth liposomes deliver CRISPR

to rid mice of tumors; human

connective tissue’s role in metastasis;

Zika infects glioblastoma cells but

not healthy brain tissue

48 PROFILE

Cracking Down on Cancer

Through his studies on oncogenic

viruses, University of California, Los

Angeles, professor Owen Witte has

helped develop lifesaving treatments.

BY DIANA KWON

51 SCIENTIST TO WATC H

Hadiyah-Nicole Green: Laser Focus

BY EMILY MAKOWSKI

52 BIO BUSINESS

Natural Killers Catch Up with CAR T

NK cell therapies offer a potentially

cheaper and safer route to cancer

treatment than their T cell–based

predecessors.

BY BIANCA NOGRADY

58 READING FRAMES

Humanity’s Watery Beginnings

A new book revives a controversial

hypothesis that proponents say

may shake up scientists’ view

of human evolution.

BY PETER RHYS-EVANS

60 FOUNDATIONS

Ideal Patients, 1896–Present

BY AMY SCHLEUNES

IN EVERY ISSUE

8 CONTRIBUTORS

10 SPEAKING OF SCIENCE

59 THE GUIDE

21

11

51

PUZZLE ON PAGE 10

CORRECTION:

In the March profile of Joanne Chory, the size of the Arabidopsis genome was

incorrect. It is not 135,000 base pairs but 135,000,000 base pairs.

The Scientist regrets the error.