Egg cells are the largest single cells on the planet. Their size—often several to hundreds of times the size of a typical cell—allows them to grow into entire organisms, but it also makes it difficult to transport nutrients ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 18, 2024
0
568
Modern biology textbooks assert that only bacteria can take nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form that is usable for life. Plants that fix nitrogen, such as legumes, do so by harboring symbiotic bacteria ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 11, 2024
0
3719
Prokaryotic single-celled organisms, the ancestors of modern-day bacteria and archaea, are the most ancient form of life on our planet, first appearing roughly 3.5 billion years ago. The first eukaryotic cells appeared around ...
Evolution
Mar 13, 2024
0
25
Single-celled organisms, such as bacteria and archaea, have developed many ways to communicate with each other. For example, they might use tiny so-called extracellular vesicles (EVs)—membrane-enveloped packages smaller ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 27, 2024
0
7
Some 9,700 years ago on an autumn day, a group of people were camping on the west coast of Scandinavia. They were hunter-gatherers that had been fishing, hunting and collecting resources in the area.
Archaeology
Jan 21, 2024
0
70
Scientists have known about a particular organelle in plant cells for over a century. However, UC Riverside scientists have only now discovered that organelle's key role in aging.
Plants & Animals
Jan 17, 2024
0
30
The sun has just set on a quiet mudflat in Australia's Northern Territory; it'll set again in another 19 hours. A young moon looms large over the desolate landscape. No animals scurry in the waning light. No leaves rustle ...
Evolution
Jan 11, 2024
1
157
Almost all eukaryotic organisms, from plants and animals to fungi, can't survive without mitochondria, which generate chemical energy using oxygen. However, a new study by Lukáš Novák and Vladimír Hampl of Charles University, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 19, 2023
0
663
LUCA, the "last universal common ancestor" of all living organisms, lived 4.32–4.52 billion years ago, according to a study from NIOZ biologists Tara Mahendrarajah and senior author Anja Spang, with collaborating partners ...
Evolution
Nov 21, 2023
0
173
Iron storage "spheres" inside the bacterium C. diff—the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections—could offer new targets for antibacterial drugs to combat the pathogen.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 15, 2023
0
1
