Discovering the Nitoplast

It started with a mystery and then a high-tech search. In the 1990s, Dr. Jonathan Zehr, an ocean ecologist at the University of California, found an eye-catching DNA sequence in the water samples he was studying. Analysis of the sequence…

Biotech Basics: An Introduction to Cell Biology

The basic unit of all living organisms, from bacteria to humans, is the cell.  Robert Hooke first described the cell in 1665, when he used a microscope to examine a piece of cork.  To his eyes, he saw an orderly…