ABSTRACT Purple elephant grass ( Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone) is a valuable forage crop with potential bioactive properties that influence animal health. This study presents a comprehensive metabolomic characterization of two purple elephant grass genotypes (T441 and T515) using high‐resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), molecular networking, and advanced in silico annotation tools. A total of 142 metabolites were putatively annotated at metabolomics standards initiative (MSI) confidence Levels 2 and 3, encompassing flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, terpenoids, steroids, nitrogen‐containing compounds, and primary metabolites. Flavonoid and anthocyanin profiling revealed genotype‐specific patterns. Van Krevelen and fold‐change analysis highlighted subtle but meaningful metabolic divergences, with discriminant metabolites serving as chemical markers of each genotype. Voltammetric and DPPH assays confirmed distinct antioxidant capacities, with T441 showing slightly higher redox activity, correlating with the abundance of readily oxidizable phenolics. Both genotypes displayed significant anti‐inflammatory activity in vitro, modulating nitric oxide production without cytotoxic effects, linking metabolite composition with functional biological effects. These findings demonstrate that purple elephant grass exhibits a chemically diverse metabolome with genotype‐dependent variations, providing insights into the bioactive potential of flavonoid‐ and anthocyanin‐rich genotypes for forage quality, animal nutrition, and health. Highlights Untargeted HRMS metabolomics annotated 142 metabolites in two purple elephant grass genotypes. Genotype‐dependent metabolic signatures were revealed using molecular networking and chemometric analyses. Flavonoid and anthocyanin profiles explained differences in antioxidant capacity between genotypes. Both genotypes showed anti‐inflammatory activity by modulating nitric oxide production without cytotoxicity. Purple elephant grass is a promising source of bioactive metabolites for improving forage quality and animal nutrition.
ABSTRACT The central dogma is an organizing framework for how information flows in biological systems. First presented in 1957 by Francis Crick in his talk “On Protein Synthesis” as a fundamental hypothesis of how information is transferred from DNA to proteins but not out of proteins, it is now introduced in cell biology textbooks as three sequential cellular processes: DNA replication, RNA transcription, and protein synthesis. Here, I discuss our understanding of the central dogma, its uniqueness (Crick was able to create a framework based on little evidence), and how (the futile) attempts to challenge it shape our view of biological systems. Key Points/ Highlights The central dogma was a fundamental hypothesis, based on limited experimental evidence, that shaped molecular biology and became an organizing framework for information flow in biological systems. Several discoveries, including reverse transcription, splicing, RNA and DNA editing, and prions, challenged the central dogma, but were incorporated into biological systems as variations, and also changed our view of information transfer.
ABSTRACT After a career as a research physicist in the lighting industry (Allgemeine Elektricitäts‐Gesellschaft [AEG]), Arnold Berliner founded in 1913 the journal Die Naturwissenschaften. Thanks to his extensive network of connections with the scientific community, he was able to secure a steady stream of top‐tier original papers for his journal, making it a leading science publication venue in Germany. In 1935, he was dismissed from the journal because the Ministry of Education no longer accepted that a man identified as a Jew directed such an important journal. His plans to emigrate did not materialize, and he remained in Berlin. There, as part of the restrictions imposed by the Nazis on those labeled “Jewish,” he lost access to all scientific and cultural events. In this situation, and facing the imminent danger of losing his home furnished with works of art and a valuable library, he committed suicide in March 1942.
ABSTRACT This article uses examples of the practical impact of changes in chemical analysis brought about by electronic instrumentation. It reviews a selection of techniques, and their applications, to demonstrate how, collectively, they played a crucial role in transforming the laboratory landscape. Included are the backgrounds to various technologies that were introduced from the early 1950s when quantitation of trace amounts was measured in low parts per million and that within less than 50 years enabled quantitation in low parts per trillion, as well as rapid identification. A survey of what became an enormous endeavor draws on applications in different sectors. First, and usefully, some of the most important methods and devices as described here are associated with the UK's National Institute of Medical Research, at its former laboratories north of London. Second, a case study focuses on the instruments used to analyze trace amounts of a specific class of chemicals in the environment. These are poly‐ and perfluoroalkyl substances, better known as forever chemicals, today compounds of tremendous interest, and subject to growing legislation, because of their global dispersal and potential toxicity. Finally, the article briefly looks back at what, if not a relatively recent revolution in one branch of science, was certainly a transformation. Summary The brief histories of several techniques, covering identification and separation, are used to discuss the impact of new modes of undertaking routine analysis.
ABSTRACT We examine Max Planck's pivotal role in the emergence of quantum physics and the paradoxical nature of his legacy. Planck's derivation of the black‐body radiation law in 1900 and his introduction of the quantum of action, h, initiated a profound transformation in physics, marking the beginning of the quantum era. Yet Planck did not intend to overturn classical physics; he sought to reconcile the radiation law with classical thermodynamics and electrodynamics. In this sense, he emerges as a “reluctant revolutionary” whose discoveries transcended his own conservative instincts. We trace Planck's path from his early work on thermodynamics to his engagement with the black‐body radiation problem, driven by the reliable spectral measurements at the Imperial Institute of Physics and Technology/Physikalisch‐Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR). We reconstruct the theoretical and experimental context leading to his radiation law, highlighting the decisive role of Boltzmann's statistical ideas, which Planck adopted only reluctantly. We also examine the reception and reinterpretation of his work by Einstein and others, showing how the quantum hypothesis gradually evolved into a framework fundamentally incompatible with classical physics. Beyond physics, we explore Planck's broader role as a leading figure in the science policy establishment across the Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and even in postwar Germany. We analyze the tension between his conservative worldview, his commitment to institutional continuity, and his moral responses to political upheaval and National Socialism. We pay particular attention to Planck's efforts to preserve German scientific institutions, his complex accommodation of Nazi rule, and his later symbolic role in the transformation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society into the Max Planck Society after World War Two. By integrating scientific, intellectual, and political perspectives, we aim to present Planck not only as the founder of quantum theory but also as a representative figure grappling with the profound dilemmas faced by German science and society in the twentieth century.
