Avian aesthetics. Brightness is for the birds

Progress in clinical dermatology is derived from new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and requires increased understanding of the cellular and macromolecular basis of physiology and pathophysiology. Researchers are excited and animated by their experiments and data, yet the research literature frequently fails to convey this immediacy. Why? In part, the convention and form of scientific journals and the eschewing of speculation make the literature inaccessible to the nonscientist. This section of the ARCHIVES will select broadly from the research literature relevant to dermatology and will attempt to integrate what is new in the research laboratory with the physicians' knowledge. Readers' comments are solicited.