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Breakthrough DNA Editor Born of Bacteria
Interest in a powerful DNA editing tool called CRISPR has revealed that bacteria are far more sophisticated than anyone imagined.
Networks Reveal the Connections of Disease
Disease is the result of failure somewhere along the line in a complex dance of biological components. Now statistical physicists are using enormous databases of medical records to study connections between illnesses.
Machine Intelligence Cracks Genetic Controls
Scientists have begun to decipher the most difficult-to-read parts of the genome — the parts that don’t code for proteins. The new work reveals how errors in these genetic instructions can lead to disease.
New Twist Found in the Story of Life’s Start
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.
Ancient Survivors Could Redefine Sex
Microscopic creatures called bdelloid rotifers have thrived without mating for millions of years. How they did it could reveal why sex is so essential for almost everyone else.
Mental Leaps Cued by Memory’s Ripples
The same mental processes that organize memories may also coordinate how we make decisions.
Brain’s Positioning System Linked to Memory
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three researchers who discovered how the brain navigates the world. Their work may also help illuminate how the mind stores memories.
Elusive Form of Evolution Seen in Spiders
A study of diverse colonies of spiders supports a controversial idea in evolution — that natural selection can act on communities as well as on individuals.
Lizard Stowaways Revise Principle of Ecology
The movement of lizards around the Caribbean is forcing researchers to account for human activity in even their most basic ecological models.