Genetics

Bioluminescent organisms have evolved dozens of times over the course of life’s history. Recent studies are narrowing in on the complicated biochemistry needed to illuminate the dark.

A new look at the reasons why organisms missing pairs of genes sometimes do much better than normal.

The cell is equipped with multiple redundancies in case something goes wrong. Researchers have begun to map these systems.

In a monumental set of experiments, spread out over nearly two decades, biologists removed genes two at a time to uncover the secret workings of the cell.

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

The bulk of biological research is centered on a handful of species. Are we missing a huge chunk of interesting biology?

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

Neanderthals and Denisovans may have endowed modern humans with genetic variants that helped them thrive in new environments.

A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular machinery that powers the cell.