Stories by Emily Singer

So-called “supercoils” change the behavior of DNA, opening a new role for topology in the study of life

A newly discovered class of microbe could help to resolve one of the biggest and most controversial mysteries in evolution—how simple microbes transformed into the complex cells that produced animals, plants and fungi

The biologist Nancy Moran has spent a career investigating the surprising nature of symbiosis, a phenomenon in which two species can appear to merge into one

Emerging data suggests the seemingly impossible—that mysterious new genes arise from “junk” DNA

The biologist Deborah Gordon has uncovered how ant colonies search efficiently without central organization, an insight that might improve computer networks

Modern birds appeared to emerge in a snap of evolutionary time. But new research illuminates the long series of evolutionary changes that made the transformation possible

Animals raised under the same conditions are creating a biological map of what makes individuals unique

Researchers are resurrecting ancient proteins to illuminate Earth’s biological dark ages

A recent solution to the "prisoner's dilemma," a classic game theory scenario, has created new puzzles in evolutionary biology

All life on Earth is made of molecules that twist in the same direction. New research reveals that this may not always have been so

The movement of lizards around the Caribbean is forcing an accounting for human activity in even the most basic ecological models

A short stretch of DNA challenges what it means to be a species

Cells have evolved ways to put random variability in he outside environment to work

By comparing the genomes of social and solitary bees, scientists hope to uncover the basis for communal behavior

Mysterious episodes of genetic duplication in our great ape ancestors may have paved the way for human evolution

Analyzing individual cancer cells could reveal the answer to some of the disease’s most enduring mysteries

In the complex architecture that ferries fluids in plants and brains, scientists are finding a model of resilience

Symbiotic bacteria that dwell within insect cells are intricately intertwined with their hosts, prompting scientists to question when these bacteria stop being bona fide organisms and become part of the cell