Author: Pam Morrison

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Cool Images: The Hidden Beauty Inside Plants

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Spring brings with it a wide array of beautiful flowers, but the interior structures of plants can be just as stunning. Using powerful microscopes, researchers can peek into the many molecular bits and pieces that make up plants. Check out these cool plant images from our Image and Video Gallery that NIGMS-funded scientists created while doing their research.

Several round structures that are yellow at the center and pink and purple around the edges and have honeycomb-like interiors. Credit: Arun Sampathkumar and Elliot Meyerowitz, California Institute of Technology.

In plants and animals, stem cells can transform into a variety of different cell types. The stem cells at the growing tip of this Arabidopsis plant will soon become flowers. Cellular and molecular biologists frequently study Arabidopsis because it grows rapidly (its entire life cycle is only 6 weeks), produces lots of seeds, and has a genome that’s easy to manipulate.

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Pathways: The Regeneration Issue

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Cover of Pathways student magazine showing many zebrafish swimming underwater around grasslike plants, with the featured question: What do you and these zebrafish have in common? Cover of Pathways student magazine.

NIGMS and Scholastic, Inc., are excited to bring you the next edition of Pathways, a collection of free resources that teaches students about basic science, its importance to human health, and exciting research careers.

Pathways is designed for grades 6 through 12. The topic of this unit is regenerative medicine, a field that focuses on restoring or healing damaged body parts so that they function normally. The long-term goal is to stimulate tissue and organs to heal themselves.

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Get Kids Excited About Science: Free STEM Resources

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Cover of the graphic novel Occupied by Microbes!, showing four teens racing downhill on skateboards. Credit: University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

We have a new Science Education and Partnership Award (SEPA) webpage, featuring free, easy-to-access, SEPA-funded resources that educators nationwide can use to engage their students in science. The SEPA program supports innovative STEM and informal science education projects for pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The program includes tools that teachers, scientists, and parents can use to excite kids about science and research, such as:

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Don’t Be Afraid to Search in the Dark: NIGMS Director Jon Lorsch Encourages College Grads to Consider New Perspectives

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Jon Lorsch, from Swarthmore College’s class of 1990, returned to his alma mater in May to accept an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree for his accomplishments as a biochemist and his visionary leadership of NIGMS. During the university’s 147th commencement, he spoke to the 2019 graduating class, offering advice and examples of how we can look for opportunities in the least likely places.

Watch the 5-minute video to hear Lorsch’s advice to the graduates—and all future scientists—to venture into the unknown in search of the next big advance in biomedical research.

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