Plant Immunity

Meet some of the people featured in the February 2016 issue of The Scientist.

Plants can’t run away from attackers, so they’ve evolved unique immune defenses to protect themselves.

February 2016's selection of notable quotes

Is the public dissection of zoo animals a boon to research and education, a PR nightmare, or both?

A synthetic interview with the father of evolutionary theory, now available as a smartphone app, teaches students and the public about the famed biologist.

Ecologists focused on grasslands urge policymakers to keep forestation efforts in check.

Fifteen years after publication of the human genome’s first draft sequence, what has become of the hundreds of researchers who worked on the project?

Researchers could become better at engaging in public discourse by more fully considering the social and cultural contexts of their work.

Scientists perform plant-genome modifications on crops without using plasmids.

In yew trees, Taxol-producing fungi function as an immune system to ward off pathogens.

A tension-sensing ion channel regulates hydration and germination in pollen.

Medication to prevent prematurity in humans harms cognitive flexibility in rats.

A survivor and a pioneer, Natasha Raikhel emigrated to the U.S. from Soviet Russia and made a career of studying protein trafficking in plants.

Associate Professor, Virginia Tech, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. Age: 37

New ideas for antibody-drug conjugate design

Companies make the antibodies, but it’s up to you to make sure they work in your experiments.

In a shifting media landscape with a growing public interest in science, some researchers are doing their own PR.

Research suggests that a combination of mental power and conventional medicine may be better than either alone.

What Should a Clever Moose Eat?, The Illusion of God's Presence, GMO Sapiens, and Why We Snap

Raphael Weldon’s critiques of Mendelian principles were 100 years ahead of his time.