Plants and Pipettes

we talk about plants and (used to) use pipettes

Category: articles

  • Simple Things #6

    Simple Things #6

    In which we use Randall Munroe’s ‘simple writer‘ to explain plant-and-pipette topics. Can you guess what they are?

    Monroe’s ‘simple writer’ limits language use to only the 10 hundred most common words in the English language. So the word ‘chloroplast’ is out. But so is ‘duck’, ‘cuddle’, and ‘explosion’.

    We’ve tried to define a plant and pipette related word using only these common words. Can you tell what we’re talking about? The solution is shown at the bottom.… Read more

  • CRISPR fought the law and the law won

    CRISPR fought the law and the law won

    CRISPR/Cas9 wows plant researchers and fascinates plant breeders. The public however doesn’t necessarily feel the same warm glow – public response has been mixed at best. Why is that?… Read more

  • Tree enemies are diversity’s friend

    Tree enemies are diversity’s friend

    How many different plants can coexist in one environment?

    It’s a question that I ask myself every time I walk past a plant shop and contemplate buying yet another Monstera-like cousin for my increasingly overcrowded flat. But it’s also a question that scientists have been asking for many years when discussing dauntingly diverse tropical forest ecosystems.

    It turns out that we may have had the answer for nearly 50 years.… Read more

  • Simple Things #5

    Simple Things #5

    In which we use Randall Munroe’s ‘simple writer‘ to explain plant-and-pipette topics. Can you guess what they are?

    Monroe’s ‘simple writer’ limits language use to only the 10 hundred most common words in the English language. So the word ‘chloroplast’ is out. But so is ‘duck’, ‘cuddle’, and ‘explosion’.

    We’ve tried to define a plant and pipette related word using only these common words. Can you tell what we’re talking about? The solution is shown at the bottom.… Read more

  • CRISPR/Cas9 – a shortcut to better plants?

    CRISPR/Cas9 – a shortcut to better plants?

    HiScientists across the globe are excited about CRISPR/Cas9 and the possibilities the new method brings to research. And they’re not alone: plant breeders are eyeballing the tool as well. What makes CRISPR/Cas9 so special in comparison to traditional breeding?… Read more

  • Spitting in the eye of plant defences

    Spitting in the eye of plant defences

    Unlike animals, plants can’t make a run for it when attacked by predators: they have to stand and fight. And fight they do, with a variety of defences designed to prevent themselves from becoming food. But of course, in the evolutionary tug-of-war of nature, the predators themselves have developed specialised weapons to surmount these blockades.

    And for whitefly, the secret’s in the spit!… Read more

  • Simple Things #4

    Simple Things #4

    In which we use Randall Munroe’s ‘simple writer‘ to explain plant-and-pipette topics. Can you guess what they are?

    Monroe’s ‘simple writer’ limits language use to only the 10 hundred most common words in the English language. So the word ‘chloroplast’ is out. But so is ‘duck’, ‘cuddle’, and ‘explosion’.

    We’ve tried to define a plant and pipette related word using only these common words. Can you tell what we’re talking about? The solution is shown at the bottom.… Read more

  • Here to stay – the CRISPR/Cas9 system

    Here to stay – the CRISPR/Cas9 system

    Very few scientific methods manage to jump from the world of molecular research into popular knowledge.

    Detectives on TV put a swab from a crime scene into a DNA sequencer and – bingo! – the culprit is found. On the next channel, in a disastrous case of ‘genetic engineering gone wrong’, a monster roams New York City!

    Seen it all? Well scientists have come up with a hot new method to fill tomorrow’s movie plots: CRISPR/Cas9 is here to stay!… Read more

  • Meet the lab rats of the plant world

    Meet the lab rats of the plant world

    When studying human disease or development, scientists usually don’t start experiments directly with good old Homo sapiens, but instead begin their quest using cell lines, fruit flies, or even mice. In the plant field things are similar. And although our model organisms aren’t quite as fluffy as your standard ‘lab rat’, the come with a whole lot of benefits. … Read more

  • Simple Things #3

    Simple Things #3

    In which we use Randall Munroe’s ‘simple writer‘ to explain plant-and-pipette topics. Can you guess what they are?

    Monroe’s ‘simple writer’ limits language use to only the 10 hundred most common words in the English language. So the word ‘chloroplast’ is out. But so is ‘duck’, ‘cuddle’, and ‘explosion’.

    We’ve tried to define a plant and pipette related word using only these common words. Can you tell what we’re talking about? The solution is shown at the bottom.… Read more