Guanosine tetraphosphate and pentaphosphate, collectively known as (p)ppGpp or magic spot nucleotides, are effectors of the stringent response, a stress response pathway activated during nutrient and energy deprivation.…
To make a change, we must replace old with new: plow the field to seed new plants, abandon old habits to adapt new ones, and erase the board…
When selecting fluorescent proteins (FPs), it is standard practice to select FPs with the highest in vitro brightness. However, it is well-known that in vitro brightness does not…
Behaviors such as mating, territorial defense, parenting or predator avoidance, despite being instinctive, are modulated by social experience. Because instinctive behaviors can be elicited without any previous social…
Sensory systems must be adaptive to allow animals to cope with changing environments. For hundreds of years, neuroscientists thought that neural plasticity came from changes in the connections…
The phrase “finding a needle in a haystack” refers to the difficulty of locating a specific target among a large number of very similar objects. Living cells face…
The discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) in 1998 was one of the most unexpected findings in the last 30 years. The Nobel-winning observations were made in C. elegans,…
RNA interference (RNAi) is a nearly ubiquitous gene silencing phenomenon triggered by introduced double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). In some animals, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, RNAi is systemic, which…
Many organisms on earth have evolved an endogenous self-sustained pacemaker, called the circadian clock, to anticipate daily changes in the environment and adapt its physiology. The circadian clock…
The dendritic arbors of neurons are incredibly diverse in size and shape. This makes sense, because dendritic morphology is a critical determinant of the numbers and types of…
