Biology

The impasse in math and science instruction runs deeper than test scores or the latest educational theory. What can we learn from the best teachers on the front lines?

The latest effort to overhaul math and science education offers a fundamental rethinking of the basic structure of knowledge. But will it be given time to work?

The biologists Rosemary and Peter Grant have spent four decades on a tiny island in the Galápagos. Their discoveries reveal how new animal species can emerge in just a few generations.

Gene drives promise to spread a trait across an entire population. But evolutionary forces are going to alter even the best-engineered plans.

The infamous case of Typhoid Mary underscores the importance of tolerance in understanding disease.

Scientists have developed new ways to forecast who will bounce back from disease by studying not just the way the immune system fights infections, but how the body repairs itself.

An RNA molecule that can make copies of a variety of RNAs adds new support to the RNA-world theory.

Irrationality may be a consequence of the brain’s ravenous energy needs.

The subtle mechanics of densely packed cells may help explain why some cancerous tumors stay put while others break off and spread through the body.