Cells

In the “underground economy” for soil nutrients, fungi strike hard bargains and punish plants that won’t meet their price.

Researchers agree it’s a long shot, but transmissible cancers could theoretically evolve into independent species. Certain weird parasites might be living proof.

Modeling suggests that many embryonic cells commit to a developmental fate when they become too small to divide unevenly anymore.

The computer vision scientist Greg Johnson is building systems that can recognize organelles on sight and show the dynamics of living cells more clearly than microscopy can.

The discovery that apparently dead cells can sometimes resurrect themselves has researchers exploring how far they can push the point of no return.

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

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.

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

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.