Plants pause their growth during stress, then press play when conditions improve, helping them recover and live on to produce food, according to a new study.

Published today in New Phytologist UBC researchers have pinpointed the genes and pathways responsible for recovery from the environmental stress of cold snaps in winter or overloads of salt when coastal fields flood.

Social behavior drives ecological change: Researchers discovered that mating behaviors, specifically the intensity of male harassment toward females, can be just as powerful as physical traits or eating habits in shaping an ecosystem.

Harassment levels create a "threshold" response: When male harassment reaches a high intensity, the activity can trigger a dramatic shift in the environment not seen at lower levels of social tension.

Increased energy needs depletes prey population: The energy demands of fish constantly chasing or evading mating attempts likely increased hunger and led to the depletion of prey lower in the food web.

Researchers from the University of Liège and international collaborators have discovered an unexpected way to to stimulate the immune system against cancer: by subtly disrupting how tumour cells manufacture their proteins.