Genetics

Only a few genetic changes were enough to change an ordinary stomach bug into the bacteria responsible for the plague.

The biologist Nancy Moran has spent a career investigating the surprising nature of symbiosis, a phenomenon in which two species can appear to merge into one.

Cellular clocks are almost everywhere. Clues to how they work are coming from the places they’re not.

A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely to spread.

Emerging data suggests the seemingly impossible — that mysterious new genes arise from “junk” DNA.

Scientists hope that new genetic letters, created in the lab, will endow DNA with new powers.

By swapping ancient genes into modern E. coli, scientists hope to tease out the rules of evolution.

Modern birds emerged in a snap of evolutionary time through a series of simple genetic changes.

In the few decades since viruses were first found in the oceans, scientists have only been able to identify a handful of species. A new survey has uncovered nearly all the rest.