When it comes to matching simplicity with staggering creative potential, DNA may hold the prize. Built from an alphabet of just four nucleic acids, DNA provides the floorplan from which all earthly life is constructed.
Nanophysics
May 7, 2018
0
215
Humanity may soon generate more data than hard drives or magnetic tape can handle, a problem that has scientists turning to nature's age-old solution for information-storage—DNA.
Biotechnology
Mar 2, 2017
10
10738
Many self-organized systems in nature exploit a sophisticated blend of deterministic and random processes. No two trees are exactly alike because growth is random, but a Redwood can be readily distinguished from a Jacaranda ...
Nanophysics
Nov 29, 2016
0
1145
Despite the vast diversity of organisms on the planet that express enzymes for the conversion of carbon dioxide into such organic compounds as sugars - as plants do through photosynthesis - the efforts to harness these capabilities ...
Biotechnology
Nov 17, 2016
0
174
MIT biological engineers have devised a way to record complex histories in the DNA of human cells, allowing them to retrieve "memories" of past events, such as inflammation, by sequencing the DNA.
Biotechnology
Aug 18, 2016
2
1498
It's one of the greatest mysteries of modern science: how did life begin exactly? While most scientists believe that all lifeforms evolved from a common, primitive ancestor microorganism, the details are blurry. What kinds ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 26, 2016
20
1975
DNA may be the blueprint of life, but it's also a molecule made from just a few simple chemical building blocks. Among its properties is the ability to conduct an electrical charge, making one of the hottest areas in engineering ...
Biotechnology
Jun 20, 2016
0
1701
Residents of the remote equatorial islands of Melanesia share fragments of genetic code with two extinct human species. That's the key finding of a new study published March 17 in the journal Science.
Archaeology
Mar 17, 2016
3
1464
Previous analyses of the hominins from Sima de los Huesos in 2013 showed that their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA was distantly related to Denisovans, extinct relatives of Neandertals in Asia. This was unexpected ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 15, 2016
5
1551
The ability to custom design biological materials such as protein and DNA opens up technological possibilities that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. For example, synthetic structures made of DNA could one day be ...
Bio & Medicine
Sep 3, 2015
0
1494
