July 17, 2024
…new research suggests that photosynthesis is not the only strategy for accumulating carbon. Instead, these single-celled plankton are also building biomass by feeding directly on organic carbon in wide swaths of the ocean. These new findings from a team led by UC San Diego researchers could lead to reduced estimates…
July 22, 2019
Destructive free radicals exist in marine ecosystems and are thought to degrade the cells of phytoplankton and other organisms. A new paper, however, suggests that these molecules actually play a beneficial role, upending some conventional wisdom.
June 15, 2017
…algae biofuels and artificial photosynthesis research—specifically the work of Stephen Mayfield, a professor of biology, and Clifford Kubiak, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Stephen Mayfield, at right, with green algae growing in bags in a campus greenhouse. “This meeting is about jobs, the thousands of jobs that will come…
August 19, 2016
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have discovered the same enzyme used by “boneworms” to dissolve whale carcasses, and that helps promote photosynthesis in corals, also regulates blood pH in stingrays.
September 11, 2017
Researchers led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have determined that major changes in plant behavior have occurred over the past 40 years, using measurements of subtle changes in the carbon dioxide (CO2) currently found in the atmosphere.
May 31, 2023
According to new research, the amount of oxygen in one of 10 breaths was made possible thanks to a newly identified cellular mechanism that promotes photosynthesis in marine phytoplankton. The study, led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, was published May 31 in Current Biology.
October 2, 2024
Plants widen microscopic pores on their leaves in response to heat. But scientists lacked an understanding of the mechanisms behind this “sweating” function. Now, biologists have unlocked the details behind these processes and identified two paths that plants use to handle rising temperatures.
March 7, 2012
University of California, San Diego electrical engineers are building a forest of tiny nanowire trees in order to cleanly capture solar energy without using fossil fuels and harvest it for hydrogen fuel generation. Reporting in the journal Nanoscale, the team said nanowires, which are made from abundant natural materials like…
January 23, 2015
Andrew Alm Benson, a distinguished emeritus professor of biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and renowned as one of the world’s leading plant scientists of the twentieth century, died peacefully from natural causes on Jan. 16, 2015, at UC San Diego’s Thornton Hospital. He was 97.
April 5, 2018
…developed process-based models for photosynthesis that have advanced understanding of how plants work, how much water they need, and how much they can grow as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase. His work has led to the development of drought-tolerant strains of wheat and other crops, and has advanced understanding of…
