Data-storage for eternity

Scrolls thousands of years old provide us with a glimpse into long-forgotten cultures and the knowledge of our ancestors. In this digital era, in contrast, a large part of our knowledge is located on servers and hard drives. ...

New study offers hope for halting incurable citrus disease

The devastating disease Huonglongbing, or citrus greening, looms darkly over the United States, threatening to wipe out the nation's citrus industry, whose fresh fruit alone was valued at more than $3.4 billion in 2012.

Microelectronics: Automating cancer detection

Microelectronic engineers in Singapore have developed and tested sensor technology that can detect and measure a chemical signature of bladder cancer. The light-based sensor could eventually be used for the early diagnosis ...

Revolutionising the Fungarium - a genomic treasure trove?

A DNA sequencing breakthrough has used samples from Kew's Fungarium to show that genetic information can be accessed from even very old samples, holding out the promise of significant discoveries which may have profound impacts ...

Spinal tap: Using cactus spines to isolate DNA

Isolation of DNA from some organisms is a routine procedure. For example, you can buy a kit at your local pharmacy or grocery store that allows you to swab the inside of your cheek and send the sample for DNA sequencing. ...

Insecticide resistance caused by recombination of two genes

Larvae of the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) are dreaded pests all over the world. They have a very wide host range: About 200 different plant species are known as potential food for the voracious insect. The herbivore ...

Revealing a pollutant's Achilles' heal

Nitric oxide (NO) is a versatile free radical that plays central roles in the environment as well as living organisms. At low concentration in the human body, for example, NO protects organs against pathogens by acting as ...

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