June 2021

The Bacterial Nanotubes Debate

The recently discovered structures are making waves in microbiology

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Features

A scanning electron micrograph of a coculture of E. coli and Acinetobacter baylyi. Nanotubes can be seen extending from the E. coli.

What’s the Deal with Bacterial Nanotubes?

Clip art of a crane, car, and plane flying over a city outside the window of two people in bed not sleeping, with a starry night background

How Environmental Noise Harms the Cardiovascular System

Infographics

An illustration of a flask of bacteria, a weighted microscope slide, and two bacteria exchanging materials via nanotubes.

Infographic: Sources of Variation in Bacterial Nanotube Studies

An illustration of a woman in bed unable to sleep. The bedside clock reads 2:30. Her brain and heart are glowing.

Infographic: Pathways from Noise to Cardiovascular Damage

A side-by-side illustration of bacterial nanotubes, conjugative pili, and type 3 secretion systems such as injectisomes and flagella

Infographic: What Are Bacterial Nanotubes?

illustration of how slow-growing and fast-growing fungi grow through a narrow channel

Infographic: How Fungi Squeeze Through Tight Spaces—or Don’t

Notebook

Fireflies lighting up a tree at night

Firefly Tourism Sparks Calls for Sustainable Practices

A boat, the Tara, sailing past an island in Patagonia, Chile

Sailing the Seas in Search of Microbes

Critic at Large

Opinion: Comparing Coronaviruses

Bio Business

A person wearing a purple glove holds out a blue pill

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Is Poised for a Makeover

The Literature

colonies of mold growing on a Petri dish

Fungi Squeezed Through Microchannels Offer Clues to Cell Growth

Broken Heart Syndrome Linked to the Brain

Mucosal Vaccines Protect Mice from Viruses, Cancer

Scientist to Watch

Adriana L. Romero-Olivares kneels in the lab next to dry mushrooms in oven.

Adriana L. Romero-Olivares Tracks Fungi’s Response to Climate Change

Foundations

a large campus building, Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall at Howard University

Leader of the Pack, 1903–1994

Reading Frames

illustration of a neuron connected to other neurons

Opinion: The Overlooked Power of Inhibitory Neurons

Contributors

Contributors

Editorial

The Psychology of Panic

Speaking of Science

Ten Minute Sabbatical

July Digest 2025
July 2025, Issue 1

What Causes an Earworm?

Memory-enhancing neural networks may also drive involuntary musical loops in the brain.

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Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Explore synthetic DNA’s many applications in cancer research

Weaving the Fabric of Cancer Research with Synthetic DNA

Twist Bio 
Illustrated plasmids in bright fluorescent colors

Enhancing Elution of Plasmid DNA

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An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

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Products

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Sino Biological Sets New Industry Standard with ProPure Endotoxin-Free Proteins made in the USA

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Introducing the iQue 5 HTS Platform: Empowering Scientists  with Unbeatable Speed and Flexibility for High Throughput Screening by Cytometry

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Vanderbilt Selects Parse Biosciences GigaLab to Generate Atlas of Early Neutralizing Antibodies to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella

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Shift Bioscience proposes improved ranking system for virtual cell models to accelerate gene target discovery