The New York Times, November 14, 2019

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If you’ve ever noticed a slimy film of algae on a rock, chances are you didn’t pay it much attention. But some of these overlooked species hold clues to one of the greatest mysteries of evolution, scientists have found: how plants arrived on land.

On Thursday, researchers published the genomes of two algae that are among the closest known living relatives of land plants. They already had some of the key genes that plants would need to thrive on dry land.

Intriguingly, the authors of the new study find that the forerunners of plants gained some of their ability to survive on land by grabbing genes from other species — specifically, from bacteria.

Continue reading “How Did Plants Conquer Land? These Humble Algae Hold Clues” →

The New York Times, November 6, 2019

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Humans have spread a contagious form of cancer around the world.

Researchers reported on Tuesday that the cancer, which invades mussels, has spread across the Equator. Originating in one species in the Northern Hemisphere, the cancer has established itself in another species in the Southern Hemisphere.

“There’s no natural explanation for how that happened without human help,” said Michael Metzger, a biologist at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle and a co-author of the report, published in the journal eLife.

Continue reading “Humans Shipped an Awful Cargo Across the Seas: Cancer” →

The New York Times, October 24, 2019

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Evolutionary biologists retrace the history of life in all its wondrous forms. Some search for the origin of our species. Others hunt for the origin of birds.

On Thursday, a team of researchers reported an important new insight into the origin of zombies — in this case, ants zombified by a fungus.

Here’s how it works: Sometimes an ant, marching about its business outdoors, will step on a fungal spore. It sticks to the ant’s body and slips a fungal cell inside.

Continue reading “After This Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies, Their Bodies Explode” →

The New York Times, October 2, 2019

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The caterpillar of the monarch butterfly eats only milkweed, a poisonous plant that should kill it. The caterpillars thrive on the plant, even storing its toxins in their bodies as a defense against hungry birds.

For decades, scientists have marveled at this adaptation. On Thursday, a team of researchers announced they had pinpointed the key evolutionary steps that led to it.

Only three genetic mutations were necessary to turn the butterflies from vulnerable to resistant, the researchers reported in the journal Nature. They were able to introduce these mutations into fruit flies, and suddenly they were able to eat milkweed, too.

Continue reading “These Butterflies Evolved to Eat Poison. How Could That Have Happened?” →

The New York Times, September 26, 2019

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As a microbiologist, Massimiliano Marvasi has spent years studying how microbes have defeated us. Many pathogens have evolved resistance to penicillin and other antimicrobial drugs, and now public health experts are warning of a global crisis in treating infectious diseases.

These days, Dr. Marvasi, a senior researcher at the University of Florence in Italy, finds solace in studying ants.

About 240 species of ants grow underground gardens of fungi. They protect their farms against pathogens using powerful chemicals secreted by bacteria on their bodies. Unlike humans, ants are not facing a crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

Continue reading “These Ants Use Germ-Killers, and They’re Better Than Ours” →