Mycorrhizal fungi help regulate Earth’s climate and ecosystems by forming underground networks that provide plants with essential nutrients, while drawing carbon deep into soils. Scientists and conservationists have been racing to find ways to protect these underground fungi, but they keep finding dark taxa – species that are known only by their DNA sequences that can’t be linked to named or described species.

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has promoted Melissa Cregger and Carrie Eckert to serve as chief science officers, advancing the center’s mission of innovations for new domestic biofuels, chemicals and materials.

Scientists at McMaster University have demonstrated that natural genetic variations in a common species of mushroom can be used to create new strains capable of making customized, biodegradable replacements for fabric, plastic, packaging and other environmentally harmful materials.

During embryonic development, thousands of cells divide and move as one. Understanding the mechanisms that coordinate this collective behavior remains a significant challenge in biology and the physics of living systems. Researchers from UC San Diego have discovered that avian embryos control their size and shape using modular, independent physical mechanisms. This work may help develop strategies for engineering synthetic biomaterials.