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Cell biology

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The Physics of Glass Opens a Window Into Biology

June 11, 2018

The physicist Lisa Manning studies the dynamics of glassy materials to understand embryonic development and disease.

Cells Talk in a Language That Looks Like Viruses

May 2, 2018

Disease-causing viruses and message-carrying vesicles sit at the ends of a spectrum of membranous particles that cells release.

Oxygen and Stem Cells May Have Reshaped Early Complex Animals

March 7, 2018

An unlikely team offers a controversial hypothesis about what enabled animal life to get more complex during the Cambrian explosion.

Q&A

A Neurobiologist Thinks Big — and Small

January 18, 2018

By developing new tools for visualizing subcellular structure and activity in molecular detail, Ed Boyden advances on his goal of understanding how the brain works.

Bacteria Sacrifice DNA Repair for Better RNA

November 22, 2017

Preserving its DNA ought to be a cell’s top priority. But bacteria slow their DNA repair to a crawl in favor of proofreading gene transcripts.

Genetic Struggles Within Cells May Create New Species

September 27, 2017

Mitonuclear conflict — a struggle between the genes in a cell’s nucleus and its mitochondria — might sometimes split species in two.

Cell Atlases Reveal Biology’s Frontiers

July 12, 2017

New techniques expose unexpected diversity within seemingly uniform tissues.

The Secret Power of the Cell’s Waste Bin

April 25, 2017

Trash collectors in the cell moonlight at the controls of the genetic machinery.

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