What do frog eggs have in common with 'anti-aging' creams? Their success depends on a group of chemical compounds called retinoids, which are capable of generating and re-generating tissues. A new ...

Scientists have developed a toolbox of transcriptional regulators for plants and show that they can be used to construct synthetic genetic circuits that predictably modify root growth. Their work is ...

Phosphorus is essential for undisturbed plant growth and development. However, in many soils, phosphorus is only poorly available. One mechanism used by plants to increase phosphorus availability is ...

How do environmental cues steer the branching of plant roots? Insights into how water availability shapes root growth reveal an unexpected mechanism behind the hormone-mediated regulation of this ...

As a botanist and extension agent, I think quite a bit about how plants grow. Understanding the method to their madness helps to explain and diagnose the various concerns of citizens that come our way ...

When the physicist Richard Feynman died in 1988, he left a note on his blackboard that read, “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” Feynman may have been reflecting on the nature of scientific ...

From left, Jianbin Su and Walter Gassmann pose in a field. From left, Jianbin Su and Walter Gassmann pose in a field. Gassmann's research helps scientists better understand the underlying cellular ...

You probably don’t think about plant roots all that much – they’re hidden underground after all. Yet they’re continually changing the shape of the world. This process happens in your garden, where ...