A group of scientists at Nagoya University, Japan, have developed an incredibly versatile DNA fluorescent dye, named ‘Kakshine’ after a former NU student of its members, Dr. Kakishi Uno, but it also means to make the nucleus shine brightly, since the nucleus is pronounced ‘Kaku’ in Japanese. Dr. Uno, with Dr. Yoshikatsu Sato and Nagisa […]

Plants have evolved unique immunity mechanisms that they can activate upon detecting the presence of a pathogen. Interestingly, the presence of some nonpathogenic microorganisms can also prompt a plant to activate its systemic immunity mechanisms, and some studies have shown that pretreating agricultural crops with such “immunity-activating” nonpathogenic microorganisms can leave the crops better prepared […]

Monitoring alignments of the building blocks of cells is important to understand how the cells are built. By collaborating with imaging scientists at the MBL, researchers from Japan have developed a new probe which they call POLArIS, allowing real-time imaging of molecular orientations in live cells. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J https://ift.tt/3y9fqXZ

Following the minuscule movements of every cell in a petri dish would be a painstaking task for any human. But teach a set of computer programs to do the job, and they can complete it quickly and even observe things that the human eye would miss. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J https://ift.tt/3obB4X9

A Rutgers study finds that symbiotic bacteria that colonize root cells may be managed to produce hardier crops that need less fertilizer. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J https://ift.tt/3eEm4Oj

Tepary beans—a high protein legume common to the southwest United States and Mexico—may hold the key to adapting bean crops for the increasingly harsh conditions brought on by a changing climate, according to research led by University of Saskatchewan (USask) and Michigan State University. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J https://ift.tt/3vUmC8z