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Flavonoids are plant-specific secondary metabolites that arose early during land-plant colonisation, most likely evolving for protection from UV-B and other abiotic stresses. As plants increased in complexity, so too did the diversity of flavonoid compounds produced and their physiological roles. The most conspicuous are the pigments, including yellow aurones and chalcones, and the red/purple/blue anthocyanins, which provide colours to flowers, fruits and foliage. Anthocyanins have been particularly well studied, prompted by the ease of identifying mutants of genes involved in biosynthesis or regulation, providing an important model system to study fundamental aspects of genetics, gene regulation and biochemistry. This has included identifying the first plant transcription factor, and later resolving how multiple classes of transcription factor coordinate in regulating the production of various flavonoid classes – each with different activities and produced at differing developmental stages. In addition, dietary flavonoids from fruits/vegetables and forage confer human- and animal-health benefits, respectively. This has prompted strong interest in generating new plant varieties with increased flavonoid content through both traditional breeding and plant biotechnology. Gene-editing technologies provide new opportunities to study how flavonoids are regulated and produced and to improve the flavonoid content of flowers, fruits, vegetables and forages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the concept of personalized medicine, also known as precision medicine, and its relationship to rising drug prices and declining healthcare quality in the United States. The author, James Tabery, argues that personalized medicine has been oversold and that more focus should be placed on environmental studies to improve public health. However, the author of the summary disagrees with Tabery's arguments, stating that blaming rising drug prices solely on personalized medicine is misguided and that the pharmaceutical industry's profit-driven motives are a major factor. The summary also mentions the success stories of personalized medicine, such as the development of drugs tailored to specific genetic mutations. [Extracted from the article]

Insights into the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to investigate the behavior of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga. For whales on or just below the surface, the red/green and red/blue depth-invariant band pairs were the most effective band pair combination for enhancing contrast between the whale and surrounding waters, both visually (Figure 3A and C) and resulting in the highest anomaly values (Table 1). The UAV was launched to an initial altitude of 55 m to provide sufficient sensor field of view for whale identification and lowered to >=25 m once whale(s) were visible on the controller screen. [Extracted from the article]