Category: WWR Full Post

Running a research group in the next generation: Combining sustainable and reproducible research with values-driven leadership This is a fantastic article to help new, future, and even current lab heads think about their postures, priorities, and practices. It was developed through a workshop held…

An RNA world Annual Reviews editions typically start with a brief autobiographical essay by a noted scientist. The 2023 edition of Annual Reviews in Plant Biology includes a profile of David Baulcombe, the well-known scientist whose work was foundational in revealing the roles of small RNAs in gene…

Review: The epigenetic control of the transposable element life cycle in plant genomes and beyond What a wonderful review! As the title indicates, this review by Liu et al. looks at transposons, considering their “life cycle” – from introduction into a naïve genome, through amplification, diversification,…

Review: The power and perils of de novo domestication using gene editing I’m excited by the ways that knowledge about plant developmental and metabolic programs is being used to make new varieties of plants. This excellent review describes some of these applications such as changes in fruit size…

Strategies on how to maximize the moment as a junior faculty On the academic job hunt? Bookmark this article, which provides valuable information about what to do when your search is successful. The time between getting an offer and accepting it is the most critical time for you to negotiate to get…

Update: Plant energy expenses: How to stretch the C budget Balancing the books means making sure that expenses don’t exceed income. In terms of a plant’s energy budget, most of the input comes from carbon fixed during photosynthesis. The output is much more diverse. Some fixed carbon is used for…

Update: Toward a data infrastructure for the Plant Cell Atlas The ability to analyze the information contained within a single cell, for example through single-cell RNA sequening (scRNA-seq) presents exciting possibilities to biologists. Building on this and similar technologies, the Plant Cell Atlas…

Genome-edited rice deficient in two 4-COUMARATE:COENZYME A LIGASE genes displays diverse lignin alterations Lignin is one of the most important end-products of the cinnamate/monolignol pathway and it is abundant in the secondary cell wall of vascular plants. In grasses, lignins are derived from monolignols,…