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Imperial College London
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Professor Matthew Cobb FRSB,
The University of Manchester Dr Anthony Flemming FRSB, Syngenta
Dr Sarah Maddocks CBiol MRSB,
Cardiff Met University Dr Esther Odenkule MRSB, GSK Professor Shaun D Pattinson FRSB,
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Middlesex University Dr Natasha de Vere, National Botanical Garden of Wales
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Cover: Sea angel, photographed
by Alexander Semenov
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TheBiologistVol 70 No 2 • Summer 2023
THE MAGAZINE OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY w w w . r s b . o r g . u k
VOLUME 70 NO 2 Summer 2023
Small
wonder
Revealing the hidden world of plankton at night
INSIDE
METABOLISING
PLASTIC Can microbes help us clean up our planet?
GROWING ON GAMMA The fungi that feed on
deadly radiation
AI AND BIODIVERSITY Using machine learning to discover new proteins
ON THE COVER 16 Migration in miniature An extract from Planktonia, a new book on the nightly migrations of plankton from the depths
Contents
12 The amazing possibilities of radiotrophic fungi Chernobyl studies suggest some fungi can use deadly radiation for growth
32 Reality check Plastic-eating bacteria can make an impact, but we have work to do irst
28 Mind the gaps Can ecologists iron out eDNA’s accuracy issues?
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UP FRONT 04 Society and policy news RSB hits accreditation milestone, welcomes new Honorary Fellow and urges UK government to stay in Horizon Europe
08 Policy priorities Areas of focus for the next ive years and impacts from 2022
10 Opinion The anxieties of in-person learning for the ‘COVID cohort’
FEATURES 12 Fallout fungi What we can learn from species that thrive on radiation
16 From the depths An exclusive extract from Erich Hoyt’s Planktonia
20 Biomolecule boom Startup Basecamp Research on AI, proteins and biodiversity
24 Focus on PHUGS How Defra studentships are boosting UK plant science
28 Sampling panacea? How scientists are integrating eDNA into their work
32 On the microbial menu Can plastic-eating bacteria really clean up our oceans?
REGULARS 36 Members 40 Book reviews 43 Treasurer’s report 2022 44 Branches 47 Crossword 48 Amazing experiments Margaret Bastock’s yellow mutants
Vol 70 No 2 / THE BIOLOGIST / 1