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Biology

Latest Articles

Illustration that combines elements of three- and four-leaf clovers with the letter for nucleotides in codons.
synthetic biology

Life With Longer Genetic Codes Seems Possible — but Less Likely

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
April 11, 2022
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Life could use a more expansive genetic code in theory, but new work shows that improving on three-letter codons would be a challenge.

Simulated microscopy image of light shining through mitochondrial bundles and emerging as tight beams.
biophysics

Mitochondria Double as Tiny Lenses in the Eye

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
April 5, 2022
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The optical properties of mitochondrial bundles in the retina may improve how efficiently the eye captures light.

Video of fluorescent neural crest cells migrating through zebra fish tissues.
developmental biology

Cells Blaze Their Own Trails to Navigate Through the Body

By Elena Renken
March 28, 2022
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With self-generated gradients of chemicals and physical tension, cells in the body steer themselves to vital destinations.

The Joy of Why

Why Do We Die Without Sleep?

By Steven Strogatz
March 22, 2022
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The reasons why sleep is so vital often hide in unexpected parts of the body, as host Steven Strogatz discovers in conversations with researchers Dragana Rogulja and Alex Keene.

A video that shows washes of light moving across a model of a human brain.
neuroscience

Brain Chemical Helps Signal to Neurons When to Start a Movement

By Allison Whitten
March 22, 2022
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Dopamine, a neurochemical often associated with reward behavior, also seems to help organize precisely when the brain initiates movements. It’s the latest revelation about the power of neuromodulators.

The Joy of Why

Deep Curiosity Inspires The Joy of Why Podcast

By Steven Strogatz
March 17, 2022
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The noted mathematician and author Steven Strogatz explains how the conversations with experts in his new Quanta Magazine podcast address his lifelong fascination with timeless mysteries.

Image of Trichoplax adhaerens moving against a black background.
biomechanics

This Animal’s Behavior Is Mechanically Programmed

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 16, 2022
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Biomechanical interactions, rather than neurons, control the movements of one of the simplest animals. The discovery offers a glimpse into how animal behavior worked before neurons evolved.

An illustration of a polyglycine molecule among the constellations.
origins of life

Peptides on Stardust May Have Provided a Shortcut to Life

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
March 8, 2022
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The discovery that short peptides can form spontaneously on cosmic dust hints at more of a role for them in the earliest stages of life’s origin, on Earth or elsewhere.

Photo of genetically engineered zebra fish larva with fluorescent markings in its brain.
memory

Scientists Watch a Memory Form in a Living Brain

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
March 3, 2022
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While watching a fearful memory take shape in the brain of a living fish, neuroscientists see an unexpected level of rewiring occur in the synaptic connections.


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