A deep genetic mystery has baffled plant scientists for decades. Although leaves, stems, and flowers develop in strikingly similar ways across many plant species, scientists have struggled to identify the shared DNA instructions that guide their formation. A new study now uncovers this hidden regulatory code and shows that its core has been conserved for 300 million years of plant evolution. Remarkably, these ancient DNA sequences were hidden in plain sight but were obscured by the constant reshuffling and duplication of plant genomes. By uncovering this deep-time blueprint, the research reshapes our understanding of plant evolution, showing how core regulatory logic is preserved and modified to guide the diversity of plant shapes and forms. The findings also carry important implications for agriculture, where fine-tuning gene regulation, rather than altering genes themselves, opens new paths to developing more resilient and productive crops.

In areas where freshwater is scarce, farmers often turn to treated wastewater to irrigate crops despite concerns from some regulators and consumers about exposing food to compounds routinely found in wastewater, including many psychoactive medications that treat mental disorders. But new research from Johns Hopkins University has found that certain crops—tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce—store those chemicals in their leaves. This may be good news for tomato and carrot lovers who eat the fruit and roots of those vegetables, respectively. 

A pioneering research-industry partnership has used advances in indoor farming technology to grow pea shoots fortified with Vitamin B12, opening an exciting route to market for farmers and addressing a major public health need.

A research team from the University of Tokyo and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology uncovered a new mechanism of Yaku’amide B, a deep-sea sponge-derived natural product. Using photoaffinity labeling, they found that yaku’amide B transiently binds CD9, inducing its degradation, in addition to inhibiting ATP synthase. This dual action suppresses cancer cell proliferation and migration, opening new avenues for anticancer drug development and protein degradation strategies.

Climate change is threatening modern life in ways we are still finding, from food security to the economy to everyday living. It has been labeled a “threat multiplier” for its potential to complicate geopolitical relationships. And our efforts to adapt as a global society face obstacles brought on by inequality.

Trust in others and prior experience with feral hogs were significant factors in whether landowners would commit effort and dollars to controlling feral hogs, two studies have found. Nana Tian is a forest economics researcher for the Arkansas Forest Resources Center who studies human dimensions and economic issues in natural resource management. When it comes to feral hogs, her research informs education and management plans. Tian is the corresponding author of two studies that address these issues: “Private Landowners’ Perspectives on Managing Feral Swine in Arkansas, Louisiana, and East Texas,” published in the Journal of Wildlife Management and “Private Landowners’ Willingness to Pay for Managing Feral Swine in the West Gulf Region,” published in the Journal of Sustainability Research.