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Features

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
Cooperation and Cheating
Mariella Bodemeier Loayza Careaga, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 6 min read
Bacteria cooperate to benefit the collective, but cheaters can rig the system. How is the balance maintained?
bacteria inside a biofilm
How Bacterial Communities Divvy up Duties
Holly Barker, PhD | Jun 1, 2023 | 10+ min read
Biofilms are home to millions of microbes, but disrupting their interactions could produce more effective antibiotics.

Speaking of Science

Multiple antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium
Ten Minute Sabbatical
Ten Minute Sabbatical
Take a break from the bench to puzzle and peruse

Infographics

Infographic showing how scientists hack the locust brain to identify the unique odor signatures of oral cancers
Infographic: Scents and Sense-Abilities
Infographic: Scents and Sense-Abilities
Scientists hack the locust brain to identify the unique odor signatures of oral cancers.
Infographic showing how CITE-seq detects protein and gene expression in the same cell
Infographic: Capturing a More Complete Picture of Expression
Infographic: Capturing a More Complete Picture of Expression
CITE-seq draws upon the unbiased nature of single-cell RNA sequencing to gather new insights about protein and gene expression within the same cell.
Infographic showing strategies used by cooperators to curb the cheater population in a bacterial community
Infographic: Curbing the Cheaters 
Infographic: Curbing the Cheaters 
From spatial structuring to policing, cooperative bacteria have a wide toolkit to contain the spread of cheaters.
The Biofilm Life Cycle
Infographic: Stages of Biofilm Formation
Infographic: Stages of Biofilm Formation
Free-swimming bacteria settle on a surface to cooperate and form a protective biofilm.

Modus Operandi

Vector image of swarming locusts in a field
Scents and Sense-Abilities: Using Bug Brainpower to Smell Cancer
Scents and Sense-Abilities: Using Bug Brainpower to Smell Cancer
Scientists use locust brains as living biosensors to perform cancer cell breath tests.
3D image of a neuron cell network with a red glow representing inflammation.
New Insight into Brain Inflammation Inspires New Hope for Epilepsy Treatment 
New Insight into Brain Inflammation Inspires New Hope for Epilepsy Treatment 
Clinicians and researchers teamed up to investigate how inappropriate proinflammatory mechanisms contribute to the pathogenesis of drug-refractory epilepsy.

Notebook

Aerial view Mangrove forest and canal through the forest.
Garbage to Guts: The Slow-Churn of Plastic Waste
Garbage to Guts: The Slow-Churn of Plastic Waste
The winding trail of environmental microplastics leads researchers to the human digestive ecosystem.
Julie Trolle and Jef Boeke
Self Sufficient Cells?
Self Sufficient Cells?
Animal cells cannot produce 9 of the 20 amino acids they need to function. Some researchers are looking to change that.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae 
Waves of Macromolecule Production During the Cell Cycle
Waves of Macromolecule Production During the Cell Cycle
In individual yeast cells, essential biosynthetic processes peak at different times in the cell cycle, revealing a temporal dynamic once thought limited to DNA synthesis.
Istiophorus spp
Fishermen and Hobbyists Provide Scientists with Invaluable Data
Fishermen and Hobbyists Provide Scientists with Invaluable Data
In Los Cabos, Mexico, a panga boat captain and a deep sea fishing enthusiast support researchers working to explain declines in Pacific fish populations.

Scientist to Watch

TKTK
Time Traveling Mini-Brains on a Mission to Conquer Space
Time Traveling Mini-Brains on a Mission to Conquer Space
Alysson Muotri launched brain organoids into outer space and found that microgravity enriches our understanding of brain development and disease.
mosquito on leaf
Combating Mosquito-Borne Diseases with CRISPR
Combating Mosquito-Borne Diseases with CRISPR
As alternatives to insecticides, Omar Akbari uses sophisticated genetic engineering methods to solve the world’s mosquito problems.
Woman with her back to camera, with arms stretched out, soaking up the sunshine
A Genetic Predisposition to Vitamin D Deficiency Contributes to Severe COVID-19
A Genetic Predisposition to Vitamin D Deficiency Contributes to Severe COVID-19
Ana Teresa Freitas discussed how individual variation in vitamin D synthesis and metabolism influences susceptibility to upper respiratory viruses.

The Literature

Illustration of a virus
Vaccines: Sex Matters
Vaccines: Sex Matters
Male patients who recover from mild COVID-19 have baseline immune states primed to mount stronger responses to future challenges than female patients.
Like many animals, field mice (<em >Apodemus agrarius</em>) fight to protect their territories.
Mouse Brain Cells Activate When They Witness a Fight
Mouse Brain Cells Activate When They Witness a Fight
A subset of hypothalamic neurons mirrors aggression in mice, challenging previous views on the location and functional role of these cells.

Foundations

Doug Hanahan worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1982.&nbsp;
Cellular Competence: Making Recombinant DNA Accessible
Cellular Competence: Making Recombinant DNA Accessible
Coaxing bacteria into taking up recombinant DNA was arduous until Douglas Hanahan took action.
Henry Erlich&nbsp;
A Not-So-Simple Idea
A Not-So-Simple Idea
A moonlit drive inspired the theory behind PCR. What did it take to make that wild idea reality?
Sir Richard Roberts won the 1993 Nobel Prize &ldquo;for their discoveries of split genes.&rdquo;&nbsp;
How Restriction Enzymes Changed Biology
How Restriction Enzymes Changed Biology
Endonuclease R changed Richard Roberts’ career trajectory and created an industry.
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