Tiny things, big effects

Our bodies are composed of a beautiful mosaic of different tissues and cells, arranged in a way that keeps us alive and healthy. As in any ecosystem, our cells communicate with one another to coordinate essential activities such as growth, repair, and defense. But how does one cell send a specific message to another? More importantly, what happens when vital communication is broken? We will explore how the malfunction of a particular cell communication pathway leads to cancer and how studying it in detail has given us greater knowledge of biological principles and life-saving therapies.

Every year, vast amounts of nitrogen fertilizer are wasted, lost to the atmosphere or leach into rivers, warming our climate and polluting our water. But some plants have a secret weapon: they release chemical cocktails from their roots that slow down soil bacteria before those microbes can steal the nitrogen away. We screened wheat plants and found that this ability varies enormously and pinpointed some responsible molecules. Could we breed tomorrow's wheat to naturally outsmart soil microbes and cut fertilizer pollution for good?