Traditional medicine: Velvet bean seed’s prophylactic protection from snake venom toxins

Snakebites kill more than 100,000 people annually, making snakes the second deadliest animals (after mosquitos), with many fold that many people suffering permanent disabilities from snake venom. Most of the victims are in Africa, Asia and Latin America, often in countries with poor access to medical resources. Snake venoms are complex and contain various toxins … Read more

Getting Professional Communication down to a Science

The Void in STEM Education I never thought a break from science courses would actually make me a better scientist. As a Biotechnology major and now graduate student, my college curriculum focused heavily on subjects like microbiology, statistics, and chemistry- all great courses that supported my research. Over the past years, I’ve noticed my research … Read more

Recognizing featured Plant Cell first authors, May 2016

Recently, we’ve been profiling first authors of Plant Cell papers that are selected for In Brief summaries. Here are the first-author profiles from the May issue of The Plant Cell. Xunliang Liu, featured first author of The role of LORELEI in pollen tube reception at the interface of the synergid cell and pollen tube requires … Read more

In Brief: Xanthine Dehydrogenase in ROS Metabolism

This week’s Research in Focus is reprinted from an In Brief published by Science Editor Nancy Hofmann in The Plant Cell, which summarizes an article newly published by  Ma et al. This study explores the dual and opposing roles of the enzyme xanthine dehydrogenase in modulation of ROS metabolism during defense responses in Arabidopsis.  Xanthine … Read more

Edit Wikipedia at Plant Biology 2016

Wikipedia is often the first place people go to learn about new science… so let’s work together edit it to reflect the best in plant science! Attend the ASPB Edit-a-thon to help ensure this powerful tool for communicating science to the general public is as accurate, as balanced and as up to date as possible. Over a light … Read more