Biology

When researchers gave a genetic molecule the ability to replicate, it evolved over time into a complex network of “hosts” and “parasites” that both competed and cooperated to survive.

While it’s understandable to focus on the diseases affecting humans, it’s important to study how our illnesses may affect animals.

Was the addition of mitochondria a first step in the formation of complex cells or one of the last? A new study of bacteria tries to answer this contentious question in evolutionary biology.

The immune system protects us from a full spectrum of pathogens, but without balance, it can end up hurting us over time, too. The immunologist Shruti Naik explains how our defenses can turn on us.

Traits from RNA molecules passed between multiple generations of worms can work with genetic changes to influence future evolution.

Life could use a more expansive genetic code in theory, but new work shows that improving on three-letter codons would be a challenge.

The optical properties of mitochondrial bundles in the retina may improve how efficiently the eye captures light.

With self-generated gradients of chemicals and physical tension, cells in the body steer themselves to vital destinations.

The reasons why sleep is so vital often hide in unexpected parts of the body, as host Steven Strogatz discovers in conversations with researchers Dragana Rogulja and Alex Keene.