The Sciences
How Strange Twists in DNA Orchestrate Life
So-called “supercoils” change the behavior of DNA, opening a new role for topology in the study of life
Stories by Emily Singer
The Sciences
Mongrel Microbe Tests Story of Complex 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 Sciences
Bee Symbiosis Reveals Life's Deepest Partnerships: Q&A
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
The Sciences
A Surprise Source of Life's Code
Emerging data suggests the seemingly impossible—that mysterious new genes arise from “junk” DNA
The Sciences
Decoding the Remarkable Algorithms of Ants
The biologist Deborah Gordon has uncovered how ant colonies search efficiently without central organization, an insight that might improve computer networks
Biology
How Dinosaurs Shrank and Became Birds
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
The Sciences
Roots of Animals' Individuality Revealed with "Groundhog Day" Experiments
Animals raised under the same conditions are creating a biological map of what makes individuals unique
Evolution
How Structure Arose in the Primordial Soup
Researchers are resurrecting ancient proteins to illuminate Earth’s biological dark ages
Evolution
Game Theory Calls Cooperation into Question
A recent solution to the "prisoner's dilemma," a classic game theory scenario, has created new puzzles in evolutionary biology
The Sciences
New Twist in Life’s Start Could Aid Efforts to Make It from Scratch
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
Environment
Lizard Stowaways Revise Principle of Ecology
The movement of lizards around the Caribbean is forcing an accounting for human activity in even the most basic ecological models
Evolution
Baffling Genetic Barrier Prevents Similar Animals from Interbreeding
A short stretch of DNA challenges what it means to be a species
The Sciences
Cells in Living Things Fight Noise with Noise
Cells have evolved ways to put random variability in he outside environment to work
The Sciences
In Bees, A Hunt for the Roots of Social Behavior [Slide Show]
By comparing the genomes of social and solitary bees, scientists hope to uncover the basis for communal behavior
The Sciences
In Bees, A Hunt for the Roots of Social Behavior [Slide Show]
By comparing the genomes of social and solitary bees, scientists hope to uncover the basis for communal behavior
Evolution
A Missing Genetic Link in Human Evolution
Mysterious episodes of genetic duplication in our great ape ancestors may have paved the way for human evolution
Biology
Evolution of an Individual's Cancer Can Be Tracked Cell by Cell
Analyzing individual cancer cells could reveal the answer to some of the disease’s most enduring mysteries
Biology
In Natural Networks, Strength in Loops
In the complex architecture that ferries fluids in plants and brains, scientists are finding a model of resilience
Biology
Tiny Genomes May Offer Clues to First Plants and Animals
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...
