It is commonly acknowledged that the nervous system and the immune system, those most complex of networks, share attributes beyond their intricacy. Elements common to the two systems include memory, connectivity, flexibility and developmental selection of cellular composition by a rigorous process involving widespread programmed cell death. There is one salient difference: the cells of the immune system are predominantly in constant motion, while post-mitotic neurons and glia are largely fixed in place. Therefore, chemokines, initially characterized as leukocyte chemoattractants, have for the...

A century has already passed since FRIEDRICH MIESCHER, working at Strasbourg and Basel, began his study of protamine, one of the basic nuclear proteins of cells. It was first established by KOSSEL that protamine represents the simplest known protein. In the conviction that research into the nature of protamine would shed light on that of other typical proteins, a group of researchers in Germany followed MIESCHER and laid the foundations of protein chemistry. A general view of prot amines was thus built up by KOSSEL, working at Strasbourg, Berlin, Marburg an der Lahn, and Heidelberg, FELIX at...

The production, cultivation, and maintenance of forest tree species provide highly sustainable production systems that conserve soils, the microenvironment, and biodiversity The key technology for biomass production of forests is propagation via micropropagation or traditional propagation.