The NIH recently published its annual report on funding levels for various research, condition, and disease categories. Since the NIH is a government institution, it should come as no surprise that the biggest changes came in areas that have been the subject of fierce political debate, the most volatile area of which being stem cell research.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have created a new enzyme and demonstrated its potential ability to interfere with the production of lignin, a key cell-wall component in plants.

New approaches promise financial and environmental cost savings while addressing the challenge of increased bio-specimen collection

RNA samples are notoriously difficult to work with given their highly labile nature and tendency to degrade even under carefully controlled RNase-free conditions and maintenance in cold environments. Exposure to slightly elevated temperatures for even short time periods can compromise RNA integrity and detrimentally affect downstream assays and results.