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Understanding the molecules and mechanisms that microbes use to interact with each other and their environments can lead to better antimicrobial drug design as well as a richer understanding of bacterial physiology, ecology and evolution.
Defining the scope and venue of a scientific paper requires a balance between the authors' goals for the study and reasonable feedback gleaned through peer review.
The sensors and switches that convert environmental inputs to specific biological outputs inspire the tools chemical biologists engineer and apply to better understand these complex systems.
Balancing big science projects with smaller-scale mechanistic studies provides a collaborative approach for integrating scientific knowledge and addressing major scientific challenges.
Unsupported assumptions have no place in scientific research, so why should they be tolerated when judging the talents and motivations of women in science?