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genes

Illustration of icons that relate to life’s origins: a volcano, molecules, a crab, fish, DNA and more.
The Joy of Why

How Could Life Evolve From Cyanide?

By Steven Strogatz
June 1, 2022
Read Later

How did life arise on Earth? Steven Strogatz speaks with the Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jack Szostak and Betül Kaçar, a paleogeneticist and astrobiologist, to explore our best understanding of how we all got here.

Artist’s illustration representing the immune system standing guard against a world of pathogens.
The Joy of Why

Why Is Inflammation a Dangerous Necessity?

By Steven Strogatz
April 20, 2022
Read Later

The immune system protects us from a full spectrum of pathogens, but without balance, it can end up hurting us over time, too. The immunologist Shruti Naik explains how our defenses can turn on us.

Video microscopy of a large C. elegans roundworm flanked by several much smaller ones.
evolution

In Sexy Worms, Inheritance Beyond Genes Can Help Evolution

By Carrie Arnold
April 19, 2022
Read Later

Traits from RNA molecules passed between multiple generations of worms can work with genetic changes to influence future evolution.

The Joy of Why

Deep Curiosity Inspires The Joy of Why Podcast

By Steven Strogatz
March 17, 2022
Read Later

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.

Photo of a flying fish gliding over the open water.
developmental biology

Flying Fish and Aquarium Pets Yield Secrets of Evolution

By Viviane Callier
January 5, 2022
Read Later

New studies reveal the ancient, shared genetic “grammar” underpinning the diverse evolution of fish fins and tetrapod limbs.

2021 in Review

The Year in Biology

By John Rennie
December 21, 2021
Read Later

The detailed understanding of brains and multicellular bodies reached new heights this year, while the genomes of the COVID-19 virus and various organisms yielded more surprises.

Photo of the freshwater sponge Spongilla.
evolution

Sponge Genes Hint at the Origins of Neurons and Other Cells

By Viviane Callier
November 4, 2021
Read Later

A new study of gene expression in sponges reveals the complex diversity of their cells as well as some possibly ancient connections between the nervous, immune and digestive systems.

A detailed photo of a fruit fly wing in silhouette.
developmental biology

Mathematical Analysis of Fruit Fly Wings Hints at Evolution’s Limits

By Elena Renken
September 20, 2021
Read Later

A painstaking study of wing morphology shows both the striking uniformity of individuals in a species and a subtle pattern of linked variations that evolution can exploit.

Photo of Karen Miga of the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a representation of chromosomes in the background.
Q&A

Karen Miga Fills In the Missing Pieces of Our Genome

By Carrie Arnold
September 8, 2021
Read Later

Driven by her fascination with highly repetitive, hard-to-read parts of our DNA, Karen Miga led a coalition of researchers to finish sequencing the human genome after almost two decades.


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