Biology

In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed banks” protect biodiversity from changing conditions.

Researchers are beginning to understand the ways in which viruses strategically manipulate and cooperate with one another.

New studies revise ideas about the symbiosis that gave mitochondria to cells and about whether the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes was one cell or many.

Two new studies show that the brain’s navigation system changes how it represents physical space to reflect personal experience.

Neuroscience has found that gestures are not merely important as tools of expression but as guides of cognition and perception.

By reconstructing prehistoric food webs and analyzing the diverse interactions of humans with other species, the ecologist Jennifer Dunne is developing a new understanding of sustainability through network science.

Mitochondria are most famous as sources of metabolic energy. But by splitting and combining, they can also release chemical signals to regulate cell activities, including the generation of neurons.

During development, cells seem to decode their fate through optimal information processing, which could hint at a more general principle of life.

To make headway on the mystery of consciousness, some researchers are trying a rigorous new way to test competing theories.