As scientists, we often measure what we can measure as a proxy for what we want to measure. Critical to this strategy is a good understanding of how well the first represents the second. Currently, advancement in science largely rests upon factors that are easy to measure: number of publications and…

Review: Functional morphology of plants - a key to biomimetic applications Humans have derived inspiration from innumerable corners of the natural world. Plants of diverse forms have inspired many “biomimetics,” or technical products derived from biological models. Speck and Speck review how plant-based…

Prakitchai Chotewutmontri, first author of "Ribosome profiling elucidates differential gene expression in bundle sheath and mesophyll cells in maize" Current Position: Research Associate, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon. Education: Ph.D. Life Sciences (Genome Science and Technology),…

Xing et al. find that Arabidopsis plants ward off pathogen infection by limiting iron availability. Plant Cell https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab075 By Yingying Xing, Deepak D. Bhandari, and Jun Liu Background: Iron is an essential nutrient for most lifeforms. Organisms get their iron from their…

Emilie Widemann, first author of "Multiple indole glucosinolates and myrosinases defend Arabidopsis against Tetranychus urticae herbivory" Current Position: Postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Dr. Vojislava Grbić at the University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada Education: M.S.…

Tomoyuki Furuya, first author of "Gene co-expression network analysis identifies BEH3 as a stabilizer of secondary vascular development in Arabidopsis" Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Japan Education: PhD, Graduate School of Agricultural Science,…

Mascher et al. use long-read sequencing to explore the complex genome of barley. Plant Cell. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab077 Martin Mascher, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research Gatersleben, Germany Mona Schreiber, University of Marburg, Germany Background: The…

Mohammed Aiyaz, co-first author of "Regulation of touch-stimulated de novo root regeneration from Arabidopsis leaves" Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram Education: PhD in Biotechnology, University of Mysore Brief Bio:  Hailing from…