The Scientist

11 FROM THE EDITOR
A Walk on the Wild Side
Plants have so much to teach us
BY MARY BETH ABERLIN

16 NOTEBOOK
Parasite Par Excellence; Pavlovian
Plants; Pouring a Pitcher of Celiac
Relief; Finicky Ferns

24 CRITIC AT LARGE
An Ethical Code for Conferences
This fundamental form of scientific
communication is threatened by
modern recording technology
and researchers who refuse to adhere
to an age-old ethical code.
BY WOLF B. FROMMER

27 MODUS OPERANDI
Deep Pocket Exploration
A modification to traditional docking
software enables the examination
of a ligand’s passage into its receptor.
BY RUTH WILLIAMS

28 Plants’ Epigenetic Secrets
Extra-genomic variation has played
key roles in the evolution of plants.
BY JEF AKST

36
Cross-Kingdom Swap Meet
Plants and fungi can use conserved
RNA interference machinery to regulate
each other’s gene expression—and
scientists think they can make use
of this phenomenon to create a new
generation of pesticides.
BY KERRY GRENS

44
May the Force Be with You
The dissection of how cells sense and
propagate physical forces is leading
to exciting new tools and discoveries
in mechanobiology and
mechanomedicine.
BY NING WANG

50 THE LITERATURE
Plant photoreceptor doubles
as a thermometer; improving
photosynthesis by speeding recovery
from photoprotection; the scent
of fungal pseudoflowers

52 PROFILE
From the Ground Up
Instrumental in launching
Arabidopsis thaliana as a model
system, Elliot Meyerowitz has since
driven the use of computational
modeling to study developmental
biology.
BY ANNA AZVOLINSKY

55 SCIENTIST TO WATCH
Andrea Eveland: Passion for Plants
BY KAREN ZUSI

56 LAB TOOLS
Novel Antibiotics Speak Up
Methods for activating silent gene
clusters to discover new drugs
BY SANDEEP RAVINDRAN

60 BIO BUSINESS
Getting Personal
Drug developers and diagnostic firms
collaborate to advance precision
therapies to market.
BY CATHERINE OFFORD

63 READING FRAMES
Fraught Cuisine
Most humans may be revolted
by cannibalism, but it turns out that
the practice is not all that uncommon
among animals.
BY BILL SCHUTT

68 FOUNDATIONS
On the Ascent of Sap, 1895
BY BEN ANDREW HENRY


IN EVERY ISSUE

10 CONTRIBUTORS

12 SPEAKING OF SCIENCE

64 THE GUIDE

65 RECRUITMENT