Researchers have engineered a more sensitive version of the RNA-targeting CRISPR enzyme Cas13a, improving its detection performance by 100-fold without sacrificing stability. The tool could support faster and more adaptable tests for HIV and a wide range of other RNA viruses.
Cement manufacturing is one of the largest sources of CO2 emissions in the construction industry. One scientist is researching an alternative that works in a totally different way: instead of firing rocks at over 1,000°C, she is getting bacteria to bond grains of sand together into solid architectural elements.
Drought may leave more than narrow rings inside a tree trunk. New research suggests quaking aspen can retain a chemical ‘memory’ of dry years, changing the defensive compounds in their leaves and reshaping the fungal communities that live on them long after soils have rewetted.
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Researchers have uncovered a bacterial immune system that appears to work backwards. Unlike known retrons, which keep a toxin suppressed until infection, type VI retrons use phage-triggered DNA production to switch toxin activity on, revealing an unusually complex defence strategy that could inspire new gene-editing tools and antimicrobials.
Not all corals cope with rising ocean temperatures in the same way. New research shows that heat tolerance can vary sharply between species and even between nearby populations, with some corals from cooler, more exposed reefs proving unexpectedly resilient to thermal stress.
New research has demonstrated that microalgae could provide a sustainable alternative to conventional mineral fertilisers for malting barley production. The study explored whether microalgae could help reduce the agricultural sector’s reliance on synthetic mineral fertilisers while maintaining crop performance and grain quality.
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