Microbes
- Genetics
DNA architecture, novel forensics offer new clues
Going from theory to practice is always rife with problems, be it shifting from the sequence of DNA’s letters to observing its dynamic machinations or from an identity marker in the lab to a piece of courtroom evidence.
- Life
Extinction in lab bottle was a fluke, experiment finds
Extinction in a bottle was a random catastrophe, not survival of the fittest.
- Microbes
Bacteria in flowers may boost honeybees’ healthy gut microbes
Honeybees may deliver doses of probiotics to the hive to help feed baby bees’ microbiome.
- Neuroscience
Shifting views of brain cells, and other fresh perspectives
The details emerging from the latest work on glial cells are sure to yield more insights as scientists continue their struggle to understand the mind.
- Life
The tree of life gets a makeover
Biology’s tree of life has morphed from the familiar classroom version emphasizing kingdoms into a complex depiction of supergroups, in which animals are aligned with a slew of single-celled cousins.
- Life
Antibody that fights MERS found
Scientists have isolated a human immune protein that fights the MERS virus in mice.
- Life
Microbes’ role in truffle scents not trifling
Truffles make their prized aroma with a little help from their microbes, chemists suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Mosquitoes can get a double dose of malaria
Carrying malaria may make mosquitoes more susceptible to infection with a second strain of the parasite that causes the disease.
- Plants
Defense hormones guide plant roots’ mix of microbes
Plants use salicylic acid to attract some bacteria to roots and repel others.
- Microbes
Spore-powered engines zoom ahead
Engines that run on the dehydration of bacterial spores can power a tiny car and an LED.
- Ecosystems
Ocean food source lives by day, dies by night
The most abundant carbon fixer in the oceans lives by day, dies by night, and may be key to the balance of marine ecosystems.
- Animals
Pandas’ gut bacteria resemble carnivores’
Unlike other vegetarians, the bamboo eaters lack plant-digesting microbes.
