Featured Science and Innovations

Movies and Images
	Movie: Transparent zebrafish Zebrafish are genetically similar to humans and are good models for human biology and disease. Now, researchers have created a zebrafish that is transparent throughout its life. The fish allows scientists to view its internal organs and observe processes such as tumor metastasis. In this video clip, you can see the fish's heart beat.
	Animated Illustration: Lung development Organ development requires precise coordination and timing of cell growth in three-dimensional space to produce the correct anatomic form and shape. Dr. Ingber and colleagues have demonstrated that the process of budding and branching in the developing lung is driven by mechanical forces generated within individual cells.
	Movie: Zebrafish with melanoma Dr. Leonard Zon, along with postdoctoral fellow Dr. Elizabeth Tatton and collequges, genetically engineered this zebrafish to make the mutated form of human BRAF, which caused the fish to develop black-pigmented moles on its skin. When the fish were also made to be deficient of a gene called p53, which suppresses tumor growth, the moles developed into melanomas.
	Image: Adult heart cell replicating Heart-muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes, were previously considered incapable of replicating in mammals after birth. Dr. Mark Keating and Dr. Felix Engel now show that an enzyme known as p38 MAP kinase suppresses cardiomyocyte replication and that inhibiting p38 enables these cells to proliferate.
	Gallery: Researchers' micrographs With better tools that help scientists see more clearly the mechanisms that make all living things tick, the line between research images and works of art begins to blur. Here is a gallery of eight micrographs -- photographs shot through a microscope -- taken by Children's Researchers during the course of their studies.
	Gallery: Micrographs from the Cowan Laboratory Children's researcher Douglas Cowan, PhD, is interested in understanding the molecular and cellular biology of the cardiovascular system, with an emphasis on using engineered tissue and stem cells to improve heart function. This gallery of stunning images includes photos of myoblasts, muscle stem cells and engineered conduction tissue.
	Gallery: Tissue Engineering The lab of Children's surgeon Dario Fauza, MD has come closer than any lab in the country to using fetal stem cells, taken from amniotic fluid during pregnancy, to fix congenital defects in babies. This gallery takes you through part of the tissue engineering process.
	Gallery: Species Extinction: A loss to medical research Species are going extinct at rates 100 to 1,000 times faster than they did before humans walked the Earth. With increasing concern, scientists are now realizing that loss of species can directly affect our health—perhaps most significantly through diminishing our chances of discovering better medicines and diagnostic tests.