Fanconi anemia: Insight from a green plant

Fanconi anemia is a human genetic disorder with severe effects, including an increased risk of cancer and infertility. Work in animal systems has identified many factors involved in Fanconi anemia and showed that these factors ...

Robotic device tracks plant growth at the cellular level

Determining how various treatments and conditions affect the mechanical properties of plant cells could allow scientists to understand plant growth at the cellular level and devise ways to enhance it. In a breakthrough report ...

A breakthrough in genetic modification of grains

Although the commercialization of transgenic, or "genetically modified", plants has stirred widespread controversy, much research remains focused on improving techniques to create such plants. As people familiar with the ...

Toward the next biofuel: Secrets of Fistulifera solaris

Biofuels are an attractive alternative to fossil fuels, but a key challenge in efforts to develop carbon-neutral, large-scale methods to produce biofuels is finding the right organism for the job. One emerging candidate is ...

New functions for 'junk' DNA?

DNA is the molecule that encodes the genetic instructions enabling a cell to produce the thousands of proteins it typically needs. The linear sequence of the A, T, C, and G bases in what is called coding DNA determines the ...

Discovery may pave way to genetically enhanced biofuel crops

Best known for its ability to transform simmering pots of sugared fruit into marmalades and jams, pectin is a major constituent of plant cell walls and the middle lamella, the sticky layer that glues neighboring plant cells ...

The basis of glyphosate resistance in amaranth

William T. Molin (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, MS) teamed up with Allison Yaguchi, Mark Blenner, and Christopher A. Saski (Clemson University, SC) to sequence and dissect the structure ...

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