By modifying the genomes of plants and microorganisms, synthetic biologists can design biological systems that meet a specification, such as producing valuable chemical compounds, making bacteria sensitive to light, or programming ...
For centuries, civilizations have used naturally occurring, inorganic materials for their perceived healing properties. Egyptians thought green copper ore helped eye inflammation, the Chinese used cinnabar for heartburn, ...
Consider the sea urchin. Specifically, the painted urchin: Lytechinus pictus, a prickly Ping-Pong ball from the eastern Pacific Ocean.
In early February, dairy farmers in the Texas Panhandle began to notice sick cattle. The buzz soon reached Darren Turley, executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen: "They said there is something moving from ...
A Mississippi State faculty member's work on plant life symbiosis—a mutually beneficial relationship between living organisms—is pushing back against the newer theory of "single-origin"—that all life stems from one ...
Traits are often lost during evolution, either because they are no longer beneficial or because they are too costly to maintain. When this happens, it is generally believed that the genes underlying the trait will eventually ...
Sticks and stones aren't enough to thwart biological attraction, but sometimes those are the only tools available to pastoralists trying to prevent wildlife from eloping with their livestock.
Drought is the most devastating environmental stress that farmers face worldwide. With the added pressures of climate change, drought years have become less predictable, more frequent and more severe.
Researchers from Cleveland Clinic and IBM have recently published findings in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation that could lay the groundwork for applying quantum computing methods to protein structure prediction.
In the world of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide gets most of the blame. But tiny organisms that flourish in the world's farm fields emit a far more potent gas, nitrous oxide, and scientists have long sought a way ...
