In Science, a team successfully combined synthetic biology and microfluidics to develop a platform that mimics chloroplasts, a step toward an artificial photosynthetic cell. The work is part of a long-term effort to capture and utilize the excess carbon from the atmosphere for producing high value bioproducts. The work was enabled in part through the JGI’s Community Science Program. [Read More]

Shrub willow and its close relative Populus trichocarpa, or the poplar tree, are potential biofuel feedstocks. Understanding the mechanisms by which they reproduce can help guide breeding efforts. To better understand how sex determination works in shrub willow, researchers investigated the structures of the sex chromosomes of one male and one female specimen, reported in Genome Biology. [Read More]