FEATURES

Scratching the surface

Roger Marchant asks whether chemicals produced by bacteria and yeast could replace the environmentally hazardous surfactants found in many everyday products

Going back in genes

A new analysis of the genes common to bacteria and archaea offers strong evidence that the earliest cells on Earth lived deep in hydrothermal vents, explains William F Martin

The biosecurity front line

In the wake of the ash dieback crisis, Rick Mumford explains a range of new techniques – from citizen science to 'sniffer' technology at airports – that could protect the UK from imported plant diseases

The Biologist 64(2) 10-13

Our landscape tells us the story of what plant disease is capable of. A walk in the British countryside, which is now largely devoid of elm trees, will quickly remind you that even after 40 years, the legacy of Dutch elm

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War of the Worms

Parasitic worms blight the lives of billions of people worldwide. Stefano Colombo looks at the challenges of vaccinating against them

Interview: Natasha de Vere

Ecologist and conservationist Dr Natasha de Vere talks to Tom Ireland about DNA barcoding every species of native flowering plant in the UK, and the crisis facing plant-pollinating insects around the world

Water worlds

Xaali O'Reilly-Berkeley looks at how bromeliads' water-collecting cavities can create entire ecosystems in miniature