The five most-read posts on Scope this week were:
Disease-fighting psychology: Washing our hands after contact with someone who has germs is a behavior most of us know can prevent infection. Now scientists have begun to define some of such disease-wary actions - and the emotions and thinking behind them - as examples of what could be called a psychological immune system.
Thanks, mom: A biologist's Mother's Day song: This week we took time out to honor our mothers. In this video, Stanford biology student Adam Cole performs an original song thanking his mother for her genetic contributions.
Virtual dissection table helps teach human anatomy: Silicon Valley engineers have created an iPad-like dissection table that takes advantage of 20th-century technological advancements in imaging, such as X-rays, ultrasound and MRIs, and combines them for use in a 7-foot by 2.5-foot screen. At Stanford, the table is being tested as a way to further enhance that age-old teaching method - the dissection of human cadavers.
State stem cell institute awards funding to Stanford, Geron Corp.: Interesting news this week from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Not only did the institute's governing board award four Stanford scientists a total of $5.7 million as part of their Basic Biology III Awards, it also voted to fund Menlo Park-based Geron Corp's ongoing clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell-based treatment for spinal cord injury - to the tune of $25 million.
New 3-D interactive search tool of human body released : This week, Healthline Network and GE launched a free 3-D visual search tool for the human body called BodyMaps, which allows users to navigate male and female anatomy, view systems and organs down to their smallest parts and explore in detail how the body works.
