PLOS Computational Biology has a series of “Ten Simple Rules” articles. Here is one for undergraduate researchers, “Ten simple rules to make the most out of your undergraduate research career” by Megan Yu and Yu-Min Kuo Here are the rules, read the article for elaboration Rule 1: Start early Rule 2: Know your foundational knowledge […]
May 2017, MIT Technology Review by James Temple Reinventing Rice for a World Transformed by Climate Change UC Davis plant geneticist Pamela Ronald wants to create rice varieties that can survive in harsher conditions, including more frequent droughts. “Pamela Ronald stands in front of two rows of rice plants, sprouting from black plastic pots, in […]
Areas of expertise Chromosome biology, epigenetics, dosage compensation, polyploidy, heterosis, gene silencing, synthetic chromosomes, genomic balance. James Birchler is Curators’ Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He completed his BS degree at Eastern Illinois University and his PhD at Indiana University. Research interests of the Birchler laboratory include structure and behavior of chromosomes, centromere […]
Areas of expertise Intracellular protein trafficking, clathrin-dependent trafficking, membrane biogenesis, microtubules, polar growth, the phragmoplast, the cell wall. Sebastian Bednarek is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University. He is an expert on intracellular protein trafficking and membrane biogenesis and his work […]
Why we’re writing What We’re Reading and how you can contribute…. (more) Nature Outlook Supplement: Food Security (OA) Nature has published an Outlook feature on the topic of Food Security with the following overview articles, all useful for teaching: Food security, Nutrition: A world of insecurity, Agrobiodiversity: The living library, Bioengineering: Solar upgrade, […]
Kassis asked biology, biomedical engineering and bioengineering faculty how important they considered several criteria for recognition as an author and rank on authorship list. A key finding is that, “Overall, there seemed to be a consensus that the time spent conducting experiments, coming up with a hypothesis, analyzing data, and writing the manuscript were the […]
Aircraft engines release CO2 into the atmosphere, but particles produced from aircraft emissions can also affect climate through aerosol production that leads to cloud formation. Moore et al. examined how incorporating plant-based biofuels (Camelina oil) affected the production of aerosols. They found that particle number and mass were reduced when biofuels were incorporated into the […]
Parasitic plants draw nutrients from their hosts. Spallek et al. explored the molecular interaction between the parasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum (in the Orobranchaceae family) and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. They demonstrated movement of tracers from the host to the parasite through the xylem. They also showed that cytokinin hormone synthesis is induced in the […]
Regulated movement to and from the plasma membrane (PM) has emerged as an important strategy for controlling the activity of plasma membrane proteins such as transporters and receptors. Jonsson et al. investigated the cellular machinery required for the insertion of the auxin-transport protein AUX1 into the plasma membrane from the trans-Golgi network. AUX1 is necessary […]