The health lab in your pocket

The lack of widely available testing has been a major roadblock to containing a virus that people can spread without showing, or even feeling, any symptoms. A COVID-19 test is Dan Fletcher’s latest transformation of cell phones into mobile diagnostic tools.

Green algae reveals one mRNA encodes many proteins

Research from Sabeeha Merchant’s lab uncovered that, among two species of green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii  and Chromochloris zofingiensis), two or more genes are encoded on a single molecule of mRNA.

Searching for adaptation secrets in the Sahara Desert

Graduate student Diana Aguilar Gómez tells the story of Joana Rocha, a visiting scholar in the Rasmus Nielsen lab who ventured into the Sahara Desert to study the genetic adaptations that help desert foxes thrive in extreme environments.