So much science starts with deciphering a genome, the blueprint for every being on Earth. With such roadmaps in hand, scientists can trace the evolutionary roots of human language, better understand the intelligence of other ...
Researchers have discovered two new viruses in bats that are closely related to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses—pathogens that can cause severe brain inflammation and respiratory disease in humans.
Our cells carry out hundreds of thousands of important functions every day, all of which are carefully orchestrated at a microscopic scale. However, the precise mechanisms that influence the luminal pH—one key component that ...
When the Earth froze over, where did life shelter? MIT scientists say one refuge may have been pools of melted ice that dotted the planet's icy surface.
A research group has developed a technology for mass-producing uniform artificial cells (lipid bilayer vesicles) with artificial model nuclei using microfluidic devices with high reproducibility. They also demonstrated that ...
Protists (eukaryotes, excluding animals, land plants, and fungi) comprise the bulk of the eukaryotic phylogenetic tree, making their diversity essential to understanding eukaryotic evolution. Nevertheless, they remain understudied ...
Researchers have revealed the structural mechanisms of a major DNA repair pathway in human cells.
DNA is the genetic code that provides the biological instructions for every living species, but not every bit of DNA helps the species survive. Some pieces of DNA are more like parasites, along for the ride and their own ...
Two important concepts in evolutionary biology, mutualism and altruism, were first made famous by the colorful anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin. He argued that cooperation could be an equally powerful driver of evolution ...
Sterols, such as cholesterol in our bodies or ergosterol in yeast cells, are among the most abundant lipids in eukaryotic cells, yet are synthesized through notoriously long, complex metabolic pathways.
