By now, everyone has heard of global warming and the horrible effects it will continue to have upon life on Earth. Many studies that have shown the consequences of climate change on biodiversity. This study performed by scientists from Norway, Austria, and France, however, sheds new light on these...
New research seems to paint the picture of pollen grains having their own versions of brawls and fights over female preference. Pollen grains from genetically different trees within the same species seem to have the ability to interfere with each other’s reproductive goals in the race to find a...
We generally think of plants as being forms of life that lack feelings and social interaction, but this may not be completely true! It has been found that plants are capable of exhibiting complex social behavior such as altruism towards related individuals but aggression towards strangers. In other...
Fat mice versus thin mice; the shape of a flower; the color of fruit: it’s all in the genes, right? Well, not exactly. According to new research conducted by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, many differences in phenotype derive not from changes in the genetic code itself...
As humans constantly exchange air with the environment through our noses and mouths, plants do the same through pores called stomata. These stomata were the structures that allowed plants to transition from the ocean to the land by facilitating the absorption of carbon dioxide and the release of water...
For some plants, stress can actually help, rather than hurt, their chances of survival. By observing the effects of herbivorous stressors on Arbidopsis thaliana, a type of mustard plant, researchers at the University of Illinois have found a positive correlation between adverse conditions such as...
A group of researchers at Oxford University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, in Saudia Arabia, may have finally solved the riddle of plant clones. In the botanical world it is not news that regenerate or ‘cloned’ plants can display different phenotypes, despite coming from...
In East Africa, people have long employed the toxins of the Acokanthera schimperi tree to make poison arrows, which are particularly useful in hunting elephants. Researchers have now discovered that a small African rodent that typically weighs no more than two pounds has also learned to use the Acokanthera...
With just a few more exams left for my junior year, I was frantically studying to get through it. Almost everyone undergoes moments of stress and adapts various ways to cope with it. But, just like people, plants too fight periods of stress and must find ways to manage.
I usually deal with...
Due to their limited mobility, plants often depend on the assistance of pollinators. Attractively colored flowers and sweet fragrances are some common evolutionary adaptations through which plants increase their likelihood of attracting pollinators such as insects and birds.
We now have evidence...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a protein complex responsible for regulating plant growth. Rather than growing at a progressive pace throughout the day, the plant’s circadian, or biological, clock causes it to wait until nighttime to grow, with the most rapid...
Memory may not be a function of the brain alone. A rudimentary memory appears to exist even in the absence of a central nervous system.
In a new study conducted at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), researchers found that poplar clones, though genetically identical, can handle stress...
For years, scientists have observed that, since the genes of animals are passed from one generation to the next through gametes (sex cells) which do not have direct contact with the environment, an animal’s environment could not directly influence the DNA transferred from parent to progeny. With...
When people have neither the time nor the resources to complete a task on their own, they often ask or hire someone to help them. According to a new study conducted by a research team from France, trees found in nutrient poor, acidic forests have been found to get a little help of their own by cultivating...
Consider the Hessian fly and the wheat plant. A fly larva chews holes in the plant’s leaves; the plant, unable to flee, loses a few leaves to its tormentor. Here the story ends, right? Not exactly. When the Hessian fly larva feeds on the wheat plant, a complex chemical battle ensues between insect...
Although we typically use term biological warfare to describe human military operations, ours is not the only species to adopt such tactics. Plants too have evolved their own versions of biological warfare. To deliver our poisons we build bombs. Plants, by contrast, have adopted a subtler method:...
Last week we looked at research being done within the field of genetic engineering that has had direct benefits for the biofuel industry (“Genetically Engineered Enzymes Offer Help...
Many biofuel production processes currently in use pivot on the conversion of cellulose into ethanol. The main function of a typical biofuel feedstock is to simply provide cellulosic biomass that can be broken down and utilized for this purpose. This process sounds easier in principle than it is in...
Those of us who have only been following biofuels in the past couple of years probably have never heard of a plant called jatropha. Once an industry favorite, this hardy shrub has now largely seen its day in the world of biofuels. Jatropha’s prominence as a potential biofuel feedstock rose fast,...
Impatient produce buyers know a common trick for making bananas ripe and ready to eat sooner rather than later: stick them in a brown paper bag. The trick works because bananas release ethylene, a plant hormone that, among its other functions, promotes ripening and prevents cell elongation. While...
Having lived in Damascus, Syria for the past 10 months, a city widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited place on earth, I have become somewhat immune to seeing what are considered to be the most ancient and well preserved ruins in the world today.
A perfect example of this is...
Protein is a vital part of our diet and participates in almost every process within our cells. On average, we need about 90 grams of protein a day to sustain a nutritional and healthy life. Some people get their protein from animals and others, like me, are vegetarian and obtain their protein from...
Naturalists have long been fascinated by the incredible swathes and splotches of colors present on organisms ranging from plants to insects. Two years after Darwin published Origin of Species and forever changed science’s understanding of how such diversity arises, Henry Walter Bates proposed...
Animals and plants alike are capable of using their biological clocks to alter internal processes. Animals’ circadian rhythms, for example, can guide their sleep/wake cycles by altering levels of hormones. Additionally, migratory animals such as birds or monarch butterflies use their biological...
While growing up, I always heard the phrases, “drink your milk,” or “eat your vegetables.” Parents everywhere seem to integrate these phrases into everyday life in order to encourage their children to stay healthy and build strong bones; but what if parents and children switched roles for...
Wine enthusiasts will likely know tannins as the class of chemicals that creates a dry feeling in the mouth after a sip of red wine. However, these compounds do more than give sommeliers a topic for debate—they are widespread chemical defenses in the plant world that work by forming complexes with...
Diabetes, a metabolic disease that has become more and more prevalent in our society, happens to be very common in my family tree. In fact, I must take extra precautions not to develop this condition since it currently affects both my father and grandfather. Fortunately, many scientists have conducted...
Rice, one of the most important crops for a large part of the world, is extremely sensitive to drought, but can tolerate floods due to its high demand for water. With the climate constantly changing, researchers have searched for ways to keep the plant stably growing in both precipitation extremes.
According...
Schoolchildren learn a very simple interaction between plants and animals—we take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
However, plants and animals contribute to the cycling of many more essential molecules, and those cycles are sometimes connected...
Last week, my family and I took a road trip across the diverse landscapes that form the countries of Lebanon and Syria. While this region of the world is often known for its instability, relative unrest, and political uncertainty, what I witnessed in our week long trip was far from any of that.
When...
For more than half a century now, scientists have known that DNA is the genetic material, and that mutations in DNA thereby drive evolution. However, if a mutation occurs in an essential gene, it could cost the gene its original function and jeopardize the organism’s survival.
Many scientists...
[Greenseedling is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a week of St. Paddy's Day-themed stories. Beer, Four-Leaf Clovers, Potatoes....A perfect holiday for the plant enthusiast!] With St. Patrick’s Day this week, what better way to celebrate the holiday then to discuss the plant...
Plants are used in a variety of ways and have long been utilized for their medicinal properties and compounds. Specifically, through genetic modifications, plants can be altered so that their properties produce an even more desired outcome. According to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of...
Just earlier this week on the popular CBS television show 60 minutes, anchor Steve Croft interviewed J. Craig Venter, a famous microbiologist whose company has been credited for mapping the human genome and creating what he calls “the first synthetic species”. While the experiments that...
When constructing a building from the ground up, sketching modified blue prints and executing precise plans are necessary in order to achieve the desired end structure. On the other hand, the assembling of biological structures in nature requires an entirely different type of planning. As opposed...
Plant biologists have long known that plant roots and fungi can form symbiotic networks called mycorrhizae that allow plants to absorb and transfer nutrients to other plants in the network in exchange for carbon products the fungi need. However, a new study from South China Agricultural University...
Since the identification of DNA as the molecular basis of inheritance and the coding source of proteins half a century ago, researchers have focused on questions of how, when, and where the organism expresses each of its genes, the functional elements of DNA. Scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute...
Just today, I participated in a class trip to Aleppo, Syria, an ancient town that lies less than a half hours drive away from the Turkish-Syrian border. As a part of this trip, I had the opportunity to visit the National Syrian Museum and was amazed to find millennia old artifacts from prehistoric...
Researchers at Penn State University and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology have recently discovered that inbreeding, which can lead to disease and diminished health, may be prevented in petunias through genetic mechanisms. Unlike in motile humans, where mechanisms to prevent inbreeding...
The tenets of even the most basic biology courses hold that genetic diversity is crucial for a species’ survival, and an efficient way to achieve necessary diversity is by sexual reproduction of two individuals within a species.
Given those basic principles, the continued existence of self-fertilizing...
An international team of scientists led by Dr. Carmen Ulloa of the Missouri Botanical Garden just confirmed the discovery of a new genus of tree in the Aptandraceae family. They named the genus Hondurodendron because it is native to Honduras.
The discovery of new species is not an uncommon...
Chocolate. Throughout my life, I don’t think I’ve met a single person who doesn’t like this delectable confectionary. Young or old, American or not, it seems that Chocolate has the unique ability to brighten anyone’s day.
For this reason, the chocolate industry has grown...
A collaborative study by Michigan State University and the University of Washington has revealed the mechanism of action of the plant hormone jasmonate and could lead to advancements in plant disease resistance and drug design. Jasmonate is a family of plant hormones that regulates plant growth, development,...
As chance would have it, I am writing this article sitting in my apartment overlooking Jabal Qasioun, the beautiful mountain which rises high above the hustle and bustle of the streets of Damascus, Syria. I have been living in this fascinating city since the beginning of June of this year continuing...
[This week, we bring you a special FEATURE LENGTH article on an amazing encyclopedia collection!]
The closing of a spring semester evokes a new persona in typical study-crazed college students. Before attempting to successfully complete course finals while sleep deprived...
Perhaps the most devastating effect of deforestation is the immense diversity of plant and animal life that is lost in the process. This effect is even further compounded when we talk about the tropical rainforest deforestation that has steadily become more and more commonplace over the past few and...
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology have recently uncovered a new method for genetically modifying plants by manipulating the genes found in chloroplast.
As you may already know, the chloroplast aids in plant survival, as this organelle takes on the responsibility...
Stress is the number one reason why students underperform and get depressed; as a college student, I can definitely attest to the negative effects of stress that I feel, especially during midterms. Sometimes, the pressure of too many things on my plate can push me to be productive, but when I feel...
About a month ago, just before getting into my car to head to work, I noticed that my shiny black car had taken on a completely new color without ever having visited the paint shop. As I quickly swiped my finger across the trunk, the culprit for this sudden color change was identified – pollen! ...
In the last few decades, genetic engineering has been a hot research area. Genetic engineering techniques have succeeded in feats such as mapping the human genome, cloning various animals, creating hybrid animals (such as Ligers!), increasing resistance to diseases, and, the most common application,...
For most, the act of defense may be associated with the process of a physical attack; however, because of the immobility of majority of plants, they must possess unique methods of defense against the environment in order to survive in nature. Although plants may not mount a physical attack on a...
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you only inherited traits from one parent? Instead of having your mother’s nose and your father’s smile, you might resemble a clone of one parent, not a mixture between the two; however, without perfection of the cloning process, we do not need...
This past week, I had the remarkable opportunity of visiting a country that has intrigued me for a very long time, that is, Japan. Since childhood, my older brother and I have been fascinated by this unique nation’s technology, culture, and viable economy that all seemed to have survived the...
As I was thinking about my topic for this week’s article, I thought I would do myself a little favor by first baking one of my favorite homemade desserts: white chocolate bread pudding. Not only did this help to inspire my thoughts, but perhaps even more importantly, it fed my unrelenting appetite...
For years, scientists have faced the lofty challenge of confirming the evolutionary link between primates and humans, but with new research from Purdue University, scientists may turn their focus on evolutionary kinship between apes and plants.
While attempting to revive dying plants, researchers...
Food competition in the tropics is not limited to two animals fighting over a single prey. In fact, carnivorous plants and fungi also compete for food, albeit at a much more molecular level. After an insect is trapped by a carnivorous plant, it falls into the plant’s “pitcher,” which contains...
For humans hair is like an accessory, we spend money cutting it, styling it, and coloring it; almost everything we do with our hair is for superficial reasons (except for cilia in our intestines, nasal cavity etc). Animals have fur for protective purposes, to keep warm in the summer or perhaps camouflage....
When we made the transition a little over a decade ago from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, many believed that we were finally closing the door on one of the most notably problematic and violent centuries in world history. Not only were two major World Wars fought during this period, but...
As I was reading this article today, I realized that for some reason I tend to prefer learning about genetic research over other sub disciplines in Biology. The more knowledge we have about the specific functions of genes, the better chance we have of curing genetic diseases. Research into the viral...
The principle of “an eye for an eye” found in the Code of Hammurabi of ancient Babylonian origin has been understood by anthropologists and other social scientists as being a peculiar characteristic of human social interaction for centuries. Although it may seem that we are the only species of...
Every time I read about agricultural research, I notice that the focus is always on the need for food. More specifically, the need to be able to grow more plants with fewer resources so that we can alleviate world hunger. A lot of the studies I have read and written about focus on cures for fungal...
In many of my previous articles, I have often discussed the rather interesting phenomenon of plant communication. While this is undoubtedly an amazing testament to the inherent complexity of plant life, evolutionarily, the ability for plants to be able to communicate with one another is more of a...
If asked to identify three poisonous entities that can be found in nature, what first comes to mind? A snake? A spider?
How about an almond tree? Although almonds may have many health benefits associated with their consumption, the nectar of an almond tree actually has quite the opposite...
As I plan ahead for college graduation and graduate school, it is sometimes easy to get carried away and wish for things to be easier and different. Sometimes I just don’t want to be in any more science classes, but I know that success in medical school or graduate school depends on me going back...
They say in Texas, “If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change.” With days that range from 30 degrees to 80 degrees in the winter months, I may have my heat running at full force on a Monday, and then the air conditioner blasting by Friday; but how does this rapidly...
Ever since I was a child, I have always considered the city of Chicago as my home away from home. Although I was born and raised in Houston, my Aunt lives in the windy city and I have been lucky enough to be able to visit her and my cousins at least a few times every year. After my brother graduated...
Every person is unique. I have noticed that in every group, each individual offers something valuable to the collective. And, although different, each person depends on someone else in some way. How does this pertain to ethylene? Turns out that a family of ethylene genes (a group of related genes)...
As a financial consultant in Chicago, my brother is often required by his job to travel to meet with current and potential clients. About a month ago, he was asked by his boss whether or not he would be interested in helping the San Francisco branch of his firm with an upcoming deadline that they...
The social behavior of kin recognition has been well studied and understood in the animal kingdom, and recently evolutionary biologists have begun to explore this phenomenon in the plant world.
It is widely recognized that plants have the ability to detect and respond to plants around them....
We’ve been posting articles every week on the plant research being done to cure diseases, improve economies, and eliminate hunger. Sometimes, however, it’s a good idea to come back and comment on the results from some of the research being done to improve our society. Whether it is to substantiate...
Have you ever thought about the evolution of pharmaceutical drugs? When I watch Grey’s Anatomy or House, I constantly feel amazed by far humans have come, how much we understand about the human body, and how many drugs and procedures have been procured to help us live longer. However, while the...
Ever since the Silicon Valley technology boom of the nineties, the phrase “nanotechnology” has attained a special place in the science world’s colloquial vocabulary.
Proposed devices implementing nanotechnology include LED contact lenses, improved fiber optics, and increasingly...
The expression “family comes first” is one that has and continues to be relayed by virtually every culture of the world. In fact, as a student of Arabic, I was exposed to a peculiar Arab version of this motto that both denotes the importance of family while simultaneously establishing a hierarchal...
With the recent increase in the activity of the H1N1 virus, the evolution of pathogens is under the spotlight. It scares me to think how one strain of the flu virus that affected birds, evolved and jumped to pigs and then ran rampant among humans. It has taken a long time for scientists to finally...
In Europe, the tree leaves appearing during the Autumn season are predominantly yellow, whereas in America they are mostly red. Why? An article recently published in New Phytologist attempts to solve this mystery. The fact that plants produce anthocyanin, a pigment that causes leaves to appear red...
My father was at one time a farmhand in rural South India. He sat on the floor with his eight siblings and ate his food off of a banana leaf. In this mud-made shanty made by my grandfather, the family would very often have dessert after their feast. They may have not had running water or electricity,...
While we may not think about it, we all know how much barcodes at the supermarket save time by quickly identifying the item we’re buying.
Scientists too have long understood the importance of developing an efficient way to determine the species of an organism. Within the last few years,...
In June we read about a revolutionary new technique for creating genetically modified plants without the use of external DNA. The article (http://www.greenseedling.com/2009/06/17/new-method-of-gene-modification/)...
With the constant struggle to improve agricultural yield and provide solutions for our impending global hunger problems, scientists are working harder than ever to discover new means to create more efficient agricultural processes.
A recent study has made a significant leap towards producing...
University of California at Davis professor Richard Karban has published his most recent research in the latest edition of Ecology Letters. His research has shown that plants can warn nearby “clones,” or genetically identical cuttings, of forthcoming danger.
Karban’s group found that...
….brought to you by Evolution
The C. Conorhiza plant lives high in the Caucasus Mountains, which are nestled between the Black and Caspian Seas. A recent study in “Ecology Letters” reveals how C. Conorhiza plants thrive in the Caucasus Mountains, despite freezing...
The immune system amazed me when I first learned about it. How intriguing is it that our body is able to recognize, target and attack danger without harming what’s benign? One little failure in the immune system can prove catastrophic. It can lead to letting an invader win or allowing an autoimmune...
We are all aware that our immune systems protect us from harmful pathogens, and many of us are also aware that plants have immune systems not unlike ours. One of the most prevalent diseases in the human world, diabetes, is caused by an overactive immune system. Over the years, we have come to understand...
For millions of years, plants have generated their own energy by means of photosynthesis. This mechanism of converting sunlight into power has proven to be very successful for plants, but for humans, employing the sun as a power source is not quite as simple. After extracting a photosynthetic protein...
A few years ago when my parents were thinking about purchasing a new home, I remember sitting down with a home builder who was showing off some of the state-of-the-art custom features he had recently installed in a few of his latest projects. Among these features, the most interesting (and perhaps...
Two of the most harmful diseases that plague rice across the world are caused by bacteria. The first disease, bacterial blight, can reduce yield by 50%, and the other, though not as damaging as bacterial blight, can cause bacterial leaf streak. However, bacterial leaf streak is becoming more prominent...
[All this week, GS is covering stories on Marijuana - its traditional uses, basic biology, criminalization, neurological effects and more. This is our final installment of Marijuana Special Topic Week.] Legalization of Marijuana has been a hot topic in this nation since it was outlawed...
[All this week, GS will be covering stories on Marijuana - its traditional uses, basic biology, criminalization, neurological effects and more. Join us all this week for our in depth study of this fascinating, controversial plant!] The word “marijuana” has undoubtedly earned its...
[All this week, GS will be covering stories on Marijuana - its traditional uses, basic biology, criminalization, neurological effects and more. Join us all this week for our in depth study of this fascinating, controversial plant!] Cannabis: a word that has undoubtedly struck a different...
[All this week, GS will be covering stories on Marijuana - its traditional uses, basic biology, criminalization, neurological effects and more. Join us all this week for our in depth study of this fascinating, controversial plant!]
Many marijuana users believe that there...
Ever since I was a child, I have had an extreme phobia of insects. Some children are afraid of snakes, others of dogs, but for me it was always the droning sound of an insects wings flapping near a light in my house that got me into true panic mode. From cockroaches to spiders and everything else...
Last week, I wrote an article about how subterranean insects use plants as telephonic devices to communicate with their above ground counterparts. I concluded that it is truly amazing to know that the basis behind some of the technologies we as humans pride ourselves on inventing today have existed...
A new system to fight frost on plants incorporates radio frequency technology. The radiant heating system, developed by Raytheon Technology, serves as a more efficient way to heat crops and prevent frost. Without heating the air between it and the plants, the Tempwave system delivers energy to the...
In the year 1844, an Italian man by the name of Innocenzo Manzetti first came up with the idea of a “speaking telegraph”. More than a century and a half later, cellular telephones have come to dominate the way humans communicate with one another. I remember growing up as a kid watching the once...
The discovery of an efficient method of sequencing DNA genomes has been one of the most important biological breakthroughs of this era. It has led to an exponential increase in finding ways of treating genetic disorders in humans as well as discovering the means of preventing infection by sequencing...
Everyday our society makes new advances in technology. Computers, cell phones and cameras manage to be made smaller each time that a new model arrives on the market. Not only have technologies that benefit our social or business lives reduced in size, but medicine also seems to be following this...
“Don’t forget to eat your vegetables, honey!” How many of us can say, without hesitation, that we have heard such a command from our mothers every day about half way through dinner? Either my mother is the most enthusiastic vegetable cheerleader on the planet, or this seems to be a common trait...
Over the course of the year, we have talked a lot about rice; it’s an eye opening phenomenon for me to think of how much research is conducted over one crop. There are new problems being diagnosed and fixed constantly to help increase rice yield. For example, a recent study shows that a single...
Amputation is one of the most mentally and physically trying experiences an individual would ever have to go through. In extreme cases, however, amputation often becomes necessary as a last resort for those with extensive gangrene, infection, or other extreme wounds.
If a doctor feels that...
The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen German Research Center for Environmental Health has been researching the genetic sequence of the African plant Sorghum, commonly known as milo. According to Dr. Klaus Mayer, the center is focusing the study on this particular species because, as a C4 plant, its analysis...
