Insect herbivores have driven plants to evolve complex chemical defenses, including mimics of the arthropod molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Many distantly related plants produce 20E, suggest...

The plant kingdom is rich with medicinal natural products that are complex and difficult to access. Discovering how plants build these molecules can be challenging, especially for biosynthetic pathway...

After decades, scientists have finally pieced together the 23-step biosynthetic pathway to produce this cancer drug

Primary Work Address: 418 E 71st St #21, New York, NY, 10021 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. About the role: The Reck-Peterson lab studies the molecular mechanism...

High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

We used an E. coli system to examine recognition of plant Rubisco chaperones for different Rubiscos. Identified factors influencing chaperone selectivity e

A study using Arabidopsis shows that plants can monitor the integrity of their outer barriers by sensing gas diffusion, enabling them to initiate wound repair to prevent water loss and pathogen entry.

Paclitaxel (sold as Taxol) is taxane diterpene natural product of yew trees (Taxus spp.) and a potent stabilizer of microtubules that is effective in treatment of cancers. However…

Sea slugs steal foreign chloroplasts and store them in specialized organelles that facilitate photosynthesis and eventual digestion to mediate starvation resistance.

Covering: 1994 to 2024 Historically, microbial natural product discovery has been predominantly guided by biological activity from crude microbial extracts with metabolite characterization proceeding…

A novel approach to analyzing yew tree genes has revealed key enzymes used to make Taxol, a chemotherapy drug that’s long been difficult and costly to produce.

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose current production involves a laborious extraction process from yew trees.

Stanford University researchers report the discovery of eight previously unknown genes that, when expressed in tobacco leaves, reconstitute the Taxol precursor baccatin III at levels matching its natural abundance in yew needles.

An approach that combines single-nucleus RNA sequencing and multiplexed perturbation identifies genes that enable the biosynthesis of direct precursors of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, whose curren...

Nature - Discovery and engineering of the antibody response to a prominent skin commensal

Streptomyces natural product exploration is impeded by the paucity of genetic editing tools available. Here, the authors engineer endogenous type I-E CRISPR into a series of transcriptional regulation...

Plants make complex and potent therapeutic molecules, but difficulties in sourcing from natural producers or chemical synthesis can challenge their use in the clinic. A prominent example is the anti-c...