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Art Imitating Life

Artist Rogan Brown's exquisite sculptures – mostly cut by hand – are inspired by the patterns and forms of the microbial world

Salt Survivors

Joe Zaccai looks at new research on the substances that enable halophile bacteria to function in high salt concentrations

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