When Glass Develops Into A Shell: New Findings In Diatoms
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 20:14
in Biology & Nature
Diatoms are microalgae that are responsible for nearly a quarter of the oxygen we breathe, but how does their glass-like skeleton develop? Researchers have solved part of the mystery concerning these organisms, so abundant in our oceans, by discovering several genes that are involved in the storage and transport of silica, the principal constituent of glass.