Soybeans Schoharie Crossing State Historical Site, Fort Hunter NY 2807

Nonhost Resistance Protects Soybeans From Sudden Death Syndrome

Sudden death syndrome is, as the name would suggest, a devastating disease. It first emerged in Arkansas in 1971 and has since spread across the US and even into South America by the 1990’s, causing heavy fatalities. The fungus that causes it, Fusarium virguliforme, can be considered the root of one of the most deadly […]

Asco Candida albicans

Gene Editing Tool Allows Dozens Of Modifications Without DNA Cleavage

The benefits of modern gene editing techniques and tools come with some downsides. While the precision of new and improved CRISPR systems is continually on the rise, there are some fundamental aspects of the tools that scientists have long wished we could work around, in order to reduce even the most minimal risk of off-target […]

Insect eye

Developmental Biology Causes Extra Beetle Eyes To Form

Developmental biology can be a wild field to study. Through looking into the fundamental genes controlling body structure and the formation of the body as a whole, strange and bizarre effects can be discovered from the smallest of changes. One of the most famous being the creation of fruit flies that grow a pair of […]

Proliferative response induced by a tumor promoter in the epidermis of a wild-type mouse - image.pbio.v11.i07.g001

Gene Therapy And Stem Cells Restore 80% of Child’s Skin

Sometimes doctors are able to accomplish the most miraculous of surgeries using top of the line technology. Treatments with an incredibly low chance of success and with a high risk of death. Successes that likely will not be possible to do again in the near future, even with other patients with the same condition. That […]

Heat affected crop during a green drought

Drought Tolerance: Recent Efforts in Biotechnology

Drought continues to be a primary driver of famine and crop loss around the world, with the accompanied water shortages not only affecting food production, but also drinking water availability. It is predicted that, by 2025, over two and a half billion people will be facing those sort of water shortages, especially as the effects […]

Проводящий пучок Pteridium aquilinum

Plants Fight Flooding From Climate Change With Root Bending

Recent events shed a light on what we possibly face in the future, as hurricanes and other weather events become more severe due to the increased energy capacity of the atmosphere from greenhouse gas influx. The colloquial term for this process is climate change. And scientists are hard at work on finding ways to mitigate […]

Hippocampal neurons in culture

Buildup of Toxic Parkinson’s Protein Averted With CRISPR Screening

Decoding the impact of genetic manipulation is a convoluted task. When it comes to investigating multi-layered diseases like Parkinson’s, it is fully expected that a whole host of genes in sequence or applied in simultaneity are used to promote onset of the disease. The process of figuring out which genes are involved or, conversely, which […]

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

Ethnobotany: A Primer On The Intersection Of Culture and Nature

Ethnobotany is one of those fields that encompasses more than just itself. It is larger than the sum of its parts. Connected to the wider field of ethnobiology, it relates to all of its other sister fields, like ethnoentomology, ethnozoology, and ethnomycology. And discussing just those misses out on the various other culture specific fields […]

Mouse embryo

CRISPR Discovers Embryo Gene’s Fate And The Futility Of Mice Models

The field of embryology continues to be one with more mysteries than answers. Since it is difficult in many countries around the world to work directly with human embryos, animal models are often the best we can do. To a certain extent, stem cells allow us to at least observe the earliest stages of multicellular […]

Neuron-SEM-2

A Nematode Neuron Gene May Hold Key To Treating Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative disease research has long been focused on understanding the underlying genes and molecules involved in the breakdown of mental function. But it is a multi-faceted process, involving some of the most complicated cell types in the human body. The main focal point has been on determining how the diseases progress and what can be […]