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Biology

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Teeth May Reveal a Multi-Day Biological Clock

December 13, 2016

Tiny lines laid down by tooth enamel appear to reveal a previously unknown biological rhythm. If confirmed, the finding could help researchers understand why big animals grow slower — and live longer — than small ones.

Viruses Find a New Way to Hijack Cells

December 6, 2016

A virus that causes crippling birth defects has been shown to do something else: It changes thousands of messages coming from DNA that control normal cellular activities.

In the Deep, Clues to How Life Makes Light

December 1, 2016

Bioluminescent organisms have evolved dozens of times over the course of life’s history. Recent studies are narrowing in on the complicated biochemistry needed to illuminate the dark.

Scientists Seek to Update Evolution

November 22, 2016

Recent discoveries have led some researchers to argue that the modern evolutionary synthesis needs to be amended.

Q&A

A Conductor of Evolution’s Subtle Symphony

November 3, 2016

At first, the biologist Richard Lenski thought his long-term experiment on evolution might last for 2,000 generations. Nearly three decades and over 65,000 generations later, he’s still amazed by evolution’s “awesome inventiveness.”

Why Some Genetic Miscues Are Helpful

November 3, 2016

A new look at the reasons why organisms missing pairs of genes sometimes do much better than normal.

A New Spin on the Quantum Brain

November 2, 2016

A new theory explains how fragile quantum states may be able to exist for hours or even days in our warm, wet brain. Experiments should soon test the idea.

The Cell’s Backup Genetic Instructions

October 28, 2016

The cell is equipped with multiple redundancies in case something goes wrong. Researchers have begun to map these systems.

Genetic Architects Untwist DNA’s Turns

October 27, 2016

Researchers have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to manipulate the way that DNA coils up inside the cell — another step in the quest to understand how the genome’s 3-D structure impacts its function.

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