Parasitic plants cause losses of over a billion dollars in crop losses each year, yet they rarely attack their own roots. Researchers from Japan have uncovered how these plants avoid self-attack. They identified a key gene, PjUGT72B1, that functions as a molecular switch that neutralizes a plant’s own signals that trigger parasitic structure formation. This self-recognition mechanism could help in engineering crops to appear as kin, avoiding attacks by parasitic weeds.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — NASA’s VIPER rover, designed to map water on the moon, has reached another major milestone with help from Sandia National Laboratories and its one-of-a-kind testing capabilities.

“We’ve built a rover that is designed to go and prospect for water on the moon, but the vehicle must be certified for mission,” said Dave Petri, NASA VIPER system integration and test lead. “We need to be sure its structure is properly designed and built to survive the mission, including the launch environment.”