We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
Quanta Homepage
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Computer Science
  • Topics
  • Archive

What's up in

plants

Latest Articles

Illustration of butterflies with similar wing-color patterns holding bundles of DNA.
genetics

How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations

By Carrie Arnold
November 8, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Supergenes that lock inherited traits together are widespread in nature. Recent work shows that their blend of genetic benefits and risks for species can be complex.

synthetic biology

Biologists Use Genetic Circuits to Program Plant Roots

By Joanna Thompson
September 28, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Using inserted genetic circuitry, synthetic biologists controlled the growth of plant roots for the first time.

Sculpted, latticed structure of a grain of olive pollen.
plants

How the ‘Diamond of the Plant World’ Helped Land Plants Evolve

By James Dinneen
July 19, 2022
Comment
Read Later

Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land.

Photo showing the glow of a forest fire and bush fire in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
biodiversity

Wildfires of Varying Intensity Can Be Good for Biodiversity

By Carrie Arnold
November 29, 2021
Comment
Read Later

The spate of furious wildfires around the world during the past decade has revealed to ecologists how much biodiversity and “pyrodiversity” go hand in hand.

Photo of Rafflesia arnoldii growing on vines in Indonesian forest.
genomics

DNA of Giant ‘Corpse Flower’ Parasite Surprises Biologists

By Christie Wilcox
April 21, 2021
Comment
Read Later

The bizarre genome of the world’s most mysterious flowering plants shows how far parasites will go in stealing, deleting and duplicating DNA.

Looping video of chloroplasts moving within the walled cells of the pond plant Elodea.
Abstractions blog

Plant Cells of Different Species Can Swap Organelles

By Viviane Callier
January 20, 2021
Comment
Read Later

In grafted plants, shrunken chloroplasts can jump between species by slipping through unexpected gateways in cell walls.

Abstractions blog

The Mystery of Mistletoe’s Missing Genes

By Christie Wilcox
December 21, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Mistletoes have all but shut down the powerhouses of their cells. Scientists are still trying to understand the plants’ unorthodox survival strategy.

Photo of green leafy plants in close-up.
Abstractions blog

Why Are Plants Green? To Reduce the Noise in Photosynthesis.

By Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
July 30, 2020
Comment
Read Later

Plants ignore the most energy-rich part of sunlight because stability matters more than efficiency, according to a new model of photosynthesis.

A split level photo shows algae growing on rocks both above and below the surface of the water at a margin of a Welsh glacial lake.
Abstractions blog

Billion-Year-Old Algae and Newer Genes Hint at Land Plants’ Origin

By Dana Najjar
March 26, 2020
Comment
Read Later

A recently unearthed fossil and new genomic discoveries are filling important gaps in scientists’ understanding of how primitive green algae eventually evolved into land vegetation.


Previous
  • 1
  • 2
Next
Follow Quanta
Facebook
Facebook

Twitter
Twitter

Youtube
YouTube

Instagram
Instagram

RSS
RSS

Newsletter

Past Month

Most Read Articles

This Data is Current Loading...
This Data is Current Loading...
This Data is Current Loading...
The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters
Quanta Homepage
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram

  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2023