News
Spring Smells
We (or at least most of us) love the first spring flowers. Purple and yellow crocuses scattered throughout front yards remind us that winter will soon give way to warmer weather and beautiful…
Bodyguards against the cold: Ice-binding proteins in Plants
You’ve probably heard many a story of despaired farmers over lost citrus crops or home gardeners over blackened flowers and ornamental plants – all caused by frost and freezing temperatures.…
All I Want for Christmas is for my Experiment to Work
Ask any graduate student how they are doing and the answer will likely depend on how their current experiments are going. Did the growth chamber stop working overnight? Did their samples get…
What's Nano in Your Life?
When talking with the other TPS fellows after seminar recently, we began discussing applications for nanomaterials. Nanomaterials are composed of units that are 1-100nm in at least one dimension(1…
What's this in my flowerbed?
I lived in the city for the first 13 years of my life and now in the country for about that long and I've never seen anything like what I found in…
Juicy, seedless watermelon is a summer staple and a great example of plant breeding innovation.
Above. Syngenta's watermelon breeder at their Woodland, CA location explains how seedless watermelon are produced. The small melons on the right…
What's furry all over, poisons fish, and acts as an "admirable" bactericide and treatment for bronchitis?
I came across a set of somewhat bizarre-looking weeds growing in a fence row this past weekend. Although not particularly aesthetic like some other flowering weeds, they caught my eye…
A New Model for Thermal Inactivation of Enzymes
Enzymes are the molecular machines that carry out nearly all functions of cells across all domains of life. Biologists study enzymes in a variety of ways including characterizing their properties…
Plant Breeding Innovation in my Backyard
I held plant breeding innovation in my hand this week. No, I was not in the lab or greenhouse, but in my own backyard. I was doing my favorite spring task – planting the garden. …