Catmint, also known as catnip, is well-known for its intoxicating effect on cats. The chemical responsible for the cats' strange behavior is nepetalactone, a volatile iridoid produced by catmint. An international team of ...
Biotechnology
May 13, 2020
0
80
You may not have heard of geosmin but, wherever you may be on this planet, it is highly likely that you'd recognise its smell.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 7, 2020
1
230
The sweet, starchy orange sweet potatoes are tasty and nutritious ingredients for fries, casseroles and pies. Although humans have been cultivating sweet potatoes for thousands of years, scientists still don't know much about ...
Biochemistry
Jun 19, 2019
0
123
Newly discovered enzyme uses an unusual mechanism to generate a molecule with an eye-wateringly awful smell
Biochemistry
Feb 22, 2019
0
10
For decades, scientists and doctors have known that bacteria in soil were capable of manufacturing streptozotocin, an antibiotic compound that is also an important treatment for certain types of pancreatic cancer.
Biochemistry
Feb 7, 2019
0
148
To convert plant matter to fuel and other sustainable bioproducts, it must first be broken into digestible sugars for microbes. Gamma-valerolactone (GVL) is a promising chemical solvent for biomass degradation. However, it ...
Biotechnology
Mar 20, 2018
0
11
Scientists have developed a computational method to detect chemical changes in DNA that highlight cell diversity and may lead to a better understanding of cancer.
Biotechnology
Aug 4, 2017
0
179
For many, experience with Daphnia, commonly known as water fleas, ends in high school. The organism is often used for science experiments exploring water toxicity, because of its sensitivity to environmental factors. But ...
Biotechnology
May 5, 2017
0
191
We all know how hard it is to find something small like a dropped contact lens that blends into the background. It's similarly tough for biologists to find tiny proteins against the complex background of the cell. But, increasingly, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 5, 2016
0
11
A pair of genetics researchers at Iowa State University found striking patterns in the building blocks of DNA in a wide variety of species, according to their recently published paper.
Mar 27, 2015
0
25
