Zombie leaves? A species of tree fern found only in Panama reanimates its own dead leaf fronds, converting them into root structures that feed the mother plant. @LASillinois @DallingJim

The antimicrobial potential of CRISPR-Cas systems is promising, yet how to best design or implement CRISPR nucleases remains poorly understood. An international team led by the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg has now addressed this knowledge gap.

A newly discovered ‘organelle’ that converts nitrogen gas into a useful form could pave the way for engineered plants that require less fertilizer.

Stress granules protect cells from the effects of UV radiation

The protein assembles itself into a repeating triangle pattern. The fractal seems to be an accident of evolution, scientists say.

Their dragon-like appearance has earned lobsters the moniker "dragons of the sea." It is one reason why they are a favorite fixture during Lunar New Year banquets. The Chinese call them longxia or dragon shrimps. And in some Asian cultures, eating them means imbibing the good fortune, rosy health, a...

One ecosystem's trash could be another ecosystem's treasure, according to scientists studying cyanobacteria, more commonly known as blue-green algae.

The oldest-known sex chromosome emerged in octopus and squid between 455 million and 248 million years ago — 180 million years earlier than the previous record-holder, scientists have discovered.

A new study argues that Perucetus, an ancient whale species, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s blue whales.

It has long been known that there is a complex interplay between genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping behavior. Recently it has been found that genes governing behavior in the brain operate within flexible and contextually responsive regulatory networks. However, conventional geno...

Biologists aim to engineer crops that can eat nitrogen straight from the air.

Anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea are uncultivated microbes that oxidize the greenhouse gas methane and engage in extracellular electron transfer with other microbes, metal oxides, and electrodes. Here, Ouboter et al. observe strong methane-dependent current associated with high enrichment of ...

To celebrate the “International Day of Girls and Women in Science”, Botany One highlights six exceptional female researchers who greatly contributed to shed new light on Plant Photobiology – a scientific discipline that studies the effects of light on biological processes in green organisms.

Tiny clumps of cells show basic cognitive abilities, and some animals can remember things after losing their head

This year marks a once in a lifetime event in the mysterious world of periodical cicadas: the simultaneous emergence of two separate broods in the US, a rare phenomenon that last occurred in 1803.

It's pretty hard to imagine the world through someone else's eyes, especially different animals.

Rodent tears contain a chemical signal that reduces aggression in conspecifics. This study shows that human tears similarly contain a chemical signal that, although odorless, activates human olfactory receptors in vitro, alters neural activity in an olfaction-aggression brain network, and lowers mal...

Scientists have spent decades trying to unravel the intricate mysteries of the human appetite. Are they on the verge of finally determining how this basic drive functions?

In the 1970s and 1980s, pine trees growing in various forestry plantations in South Africa's Western Cape province began to die in patches. These trees succumbed to a mysterious root disease and the patches expanded gradually. Spontaneous regrowth of seedlings in the patches died dramatically.

A new method can track changes in live cell gene expression over extended periods of time. Based on Raman spectroscopy, the method doesn’t harm cells and can be performed repeatedly.

For the first time, researchers have analyzed the impact of antibiotic use on the rise of treatment-resistant bacteria over the last 20 years in the UK and Norway. They show that while the increase in drug use has amplified the spread of superbugs, it is not the only driver.

Thieving worms may manipulate their prey with stolen genes