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Pseudo-colored scanning electron microscope image of the algae microrobot with the algae in green and the drug-filled nanoparticles in orange.
Green Warriors: Algae Microrobots Set to Combat Metastasis
Green algae can be outfitted with nanoparticles, transforming them into efficient drug-delivering machines that target lung tumors.
Green Warriors: Algae Microrobots Set to Combat Metastasis
Green Warriors: Algae Microrobots Set to Combat Metastasis

Green algae can be outfitted with nanoparticles, transforming them into efficient drug-delivering machines that target lung tumors.

Green algae can be outfitted with nanoparticles, transforming them into efficient drug-delivering machines that target lung tumors.

algae

Structure of a Chlamydomonas, green algae
Drugs Hitch a Ride on Algae for Targeted Delivery
Holly Barker, PhD | Feb 1, 2023 | 3 min read
A new microrobot uses algae to transport antibiotics into the lungs of mice with pneumonia.
Illustration showing microscopic algae swim through mouse lungs and deliver nanoparticles of an antibiotic attached to their surfaces
Infographic: Algae Robots Transport Antibiotics to Infected Tissues
Holly Barker, PhD | Feb 1, 2023 | 1 min read
Microscopic algae dotted with drug-filled nanoparticles may offer a more effective means of treatment than traditional delivery methods.
Photo of Monir Moniruzzaman
Monir Moniruzzaman Studies the Secrets of Giant Viruses
James M. Gaines | Jan 2, 2023 | 4 min read
The University of Miami researcher studies how a mysterious group of supersized viruses infects and influences the evolution of their hosts.
A small brown crustacean with white spots on it moving on a red branch.
Seaweed Has Its Own Matchmakers: Small Crustaceans
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Jul 28, 2022 | 3 min read
A species that transports the spermatia of red algae is the first known instance of an animal facilitating fertilization in this ancient photosynthetic lineage.
Illustration showing coral health outcomes in response to bleaching events
Infographic: How Corals Remember the Past, Prepare for the Future
Amanda Heidt | Feb 14, 2022 | 1 min read
Scientists have documented examples of corals “remembering” prior exposure to heat stress in the field, and are now simulating these phenomena in the lab to better understand their cellular and molecular underpinnings.
Conceptual illustration of coral
Environmental Memory: How Corals Are Adjusting to Warmer Waters
Amanda Heidt | Feb 14, 2022 | 10+ min read
Corals that previously experienced heat stress respond better the next time around. Researchers are trying to figure out how, and hope to one day take advantage of the phenomenon to improve coral restoration efforts. 
Miscellaneous diatoms, appearing as translucent blue and brownish circles and rhomboid shapes, are imaged in front of a black background.
Q&A: Fluorescence Lets Diatoms Communicate, Coordinate Behavior
Dan Robitzski | Dec 16, 2021 | 6 min read
The Scientist spoke with physicist and microbial ecologist Idan Tuval, whose recent paper challenges the assumption that these single-celled organisms only communicate via chemical signals.
The head of a tadpole is pictured. Its eye is black, but the rest of its head is various shades of green
Scientists Use Photosynthesis to Power an Animal’s Brain
Abby Olena, PhD | Oct 13, 2021 | 3 min read
Injecting oxygen-generating algae into tadpoles allows brain activity to continue in the absence of oxygen, researchers find.
Plant cryptospore fossil found in 480 million-year-old Australian rock
Discovered: Fossilized Spores Suggestive of Early Land Plants
Ruth Williams | Aug 12, 2021 | 3 min read
Spores found in 480 million-year-old rock bring the fossil record in line with molecular estimates of when plants first adapted to life on land.
Microscope image of Chlamydomonas
Researcher Sanctioned by PNAS for Not Sharing Alga
Catherine Offord | Jun 9, 2021 | 1 min read
Zhangfeng Hu will be unable to submit manuscripts for three years after having violated the journal’s policy about making study materials available to other scientists.
Dead fish due to lack of oxygen floating on water.
Oxygen Levels Dropping in US and European Lakes: Study
Lisa Winter | Jun 7, 2021 | 2 min read
Researchers find a widespread decline in dissolved oxygen levels in lakes, which is known to reshape ecosystems.
A scanning electron micrograph of the picozoan Picomonas judraskeda
Picozoans Are Algae After All: Study
Christie Wilcox, PhD | May 6, 2021 | 5 min read
Phylogenomics data place the enigmatic plankton in the middle of the algal family tree, despite their apparent lack of plastids—an organelle characteristic of all other algae.
Certain Color Varieties of a Coral Are More Protected from Bleaching
Lisa Winter | Feb 25, 2021 | 2 min read
In yellow-green and purple versions of the reef-building Acropora tenuis, the genes that code for particular fluorescent and other colorful proteins become more active in the summer, protecting symbiotic algae from thermal stress and resisting bleaching.
Mass Elephant Die-Off Caused by Cyanobacteria, Officials Say
Max Kozlov | Sep 23, 2020 | 2 min read
Tests point to a toxic algal bloom that might have led to the unprecedented deaths of hundreds of African elephants in Botswana earlier this year, but the evidence isn’t conclusive.
Proterocladus antiquus green algae evolution photosynthesis nanfen formation
Oldest Green Algae Fossil Discovered in China
Kerry Grens | Feb 25, 2020 | 2 min read
The 1-billion-year-old impressions have features similar to modern algae and indicate that photosynthesizing plants evolved at least that long ago.
Blue-Green Algae Produce Methane
Ruth Williams | Jan 15, 2020 | 3 min read
Biological production of this greenhouse gas, once thought to be the reserve of anaerobic microbes, occurs in these widespread, photosynthesizing cyanobacteria.
Image of the Day: Symbiotic Algae
Emily Makowski | Jan 13, 2020 | 1 min read
Anemones keep their algae populations in check.
Image of the Day: Unusual ATP Synthase
Emily Makowski | Jan 8, 2020 | 2 min read
A single-celled organism has an energy-producing enzyme with unique features.
photo of green, tube-like Spirogloea muscicola
Genes from Bacteria Likely Aided Plants’ Move to Land
Shawna Williams | Nov 15, 2019 | 2 min read
An analysis suggests that DNA cribbed from soil microbes enabled plants’ ancestors to colonize a terrestrial environment.
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