Agency Update: DARPA Announces Proposers Day for New Insect Allies Program

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) has announced a Proposers Day for the new Insect Allies program.  The Insect Allies program will seek to “provide an alternative to traditional agricultural threat response, using targeted gene therapy to protect mature plants within a single growing season.”  Insect Allies is a unique … Read more

Communicating Effectively with Graphics

Frédéric Bouché, a postdoctoral research with Richard Amasino at the University of Wisconsin, recently caught our attention when he published a set of impressive visual abstracts to support his latest research papers. We invited him to share how and why he makes these images. -Editors When you work hard, and your scientific work is finally … Read more

Emanuel Epstein: No Intelligent Life on Solid Ground in the Universe without the Existence of Rooted Organisms

Emanuel Epstein (born November 5, 1916), the father of modern root physiology and biochemistry Editor’s note: ASPB is happy to publish this appreciation of UC-Davis Professor Emeritus, Emanuel Epstein, on the occasion of his 100th birthday.  A single rye plant may possess a root meshwork of more than 600 km total length. Unbelievable, but measured … Read more

President’s Letter: Roll Up Your Sleeves!

I consider it a tremendous privilege to serve you as president of ASPB this year. Because I have participated for the past several years as chair of the Publications Committee and member of the Science Policy and Executive Committees, I feel as though the start of this year provides an invaluable opportunity to take a … Read more

What We’re Reading: Oct 28

Featured Review: Evolution of ROS signaling ($) Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are partially reduced or excited forms of oxygen (for example, O2·−) that are reactive and damaging towards cellular components. Because ROS are produced as byproducts of metabolism, cells have evolved ROS detoxification pathways; more than 150 Arabidopsis genes contribute to ROS detoxification. Inupakutika et … Read more