Tagging Proteins
Watching how cancer drugs affect proteins marked with a green fluorescent dye
Snake Vision
Studying snake heat-sensing for better artificial infrared sensors
Sleeping After Eating
Why do you feel sleepy after eating a big meal? (The comfort unmasks underlying sleepiness.)
Fingerprints
Why do people have different fingerprints? (Combination of genes and environment)
Talking With Fat
Nerve cells and fat cells communicate with each other about burning and storing energy.
Analysis Beads
Tiny beads can be marked with flurescents and tagged with antibodies to test for hundreds of illneses at once.
Soil Genome
By capturing DNA from soil and growing it in e. coli, scientists can find new antibiotics without having to identify where the DNA came from.
Spoilage Sensor
A sensor that can detect the presence of gram-negative bacteria, and soon other bacteria, fungi, and dna as well
Glowing Bacteria
Glowing bacteria may be the key to protecting potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle
Hermaphroditic Fish
Water from waste treatment plants contain pharmaceuticals, which are affecting wild fish
Nanocrystals
Tiny fluorescent crystals attached to white blood cells make it easier to find tumors in the body
Antimicrobial Sweat
An antimicrobial protein in human sweat could lead to new antibiotics
Nitrogen Fix
Researchers have seen how iron binds nitrogen from the air and stretches it, a glimpse into how bacteria do it in the soil
Animal Menopause
Do any other species go through menopause? (yes, other species, especially mammals, do lose fertility late in life when they live longer than their peers)
Diagnostic Microchip
A chip that can be implanted to monitor onset of complications, disease
Universal Metabolism
Metabolic rates for all living things are the same when you account for different sizes and temperatures
Dog Fur
Do dogs have hair or fur or both? And are people allergic to fur more than hair? (dogs have two coats- secondary and primary. But, it's all the same stuff. And people will be allergic to all dogs, they just need to keep the hairs swept up, easier to do with longer-haired breeds.)
Fall Colors
Red color in leaves protects leaves from damage from ultraviolet light.
Spinach and Sight
The photosynthesis photoreceptors in spinach may be used to replace diseased-damaged photoreceptors in the eye.
Tomato Mold
Preventing programmed cell death makes tomatoes resistant to black mold.
Guinea Pigs
Why aren't guinea pigs used as research animals anymore? (They are, but in fewer numbers.)