Taste and smell receptors in unexpected organs monitor the state of the body’s natural microbial health and raise an alarm over invading parasites.
Genetically identical bacteria should all be the same, but in fact, the cells are stubbornly varied individuals.
In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed banks” protect biodiversity from changing conditions.
Disease-causing viruses and message-carrying vesicles sit at the ends of a spectrum of membranous particles that cells release.
Near an Australian desert mining camp, wild dingoes are losing their fear of humans. Their genetic and behavioral changes may echo those from the domestication of dogs.
The oldest law of genetics says that gametes combine randomly, but experiments hint that sometimes eggs select sperm actively for their genetic assets.
Mitonuclear conflict — a struggle between the genes in a cell’s nucleus and its mitochondria — might sometimes split species in two.
Hydrodynamics and competition guide the architectural design of biofilm fortresses.
Examine evolution over the course of years or centuries, and you’ll find that it progresses much more quickly than it does over geologic time.