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microbes

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Holly Moeller walks along Campus Point Beach.
Q&A

She Finds Keys to Ecology in Cells That Steal From Others

By Veronique Greenwood
December 19, 2022
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The ecologist Holly Moeller studies microorganisms that expand their range by absorbing organelles and gaining new metabolic talents from their prey.

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
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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.

Micrograph of archaeal cells.
genomics

Plasmid, Virus or Other? DNA ‘Borgs’ Blur Boundaries.

By Jordana Cepelewicz +1 authors
Allison Whitten
July 21, 2021
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Scientists have reported large DNA structures in some archaea that defy easy categorization.

Video of a swimming Paramecium bursaria, with its Chlorella endosymbionts.
molecular biology

RNA Brakes May Stabilize a Cellular Symbiosis

By Max Kozlov
June 2, 2021
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In some symbiotic partnerships, an RNA-based mechanism may sabotage the growth of greedy hosts.

2020 in Review

The Year in Biology

By John Rennie
December 23, 2020
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While the study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the most urgent priority, biologists also learned more about how brains process information, how to define individuality and why sleep deprivation kills.

ecology

A Physicist’s Approach to Biology Brings Ecological Insights

By Gabriel Popkin
October 13, 2020
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The physicist Jeff Gore tests theories about microbe communities experimentally and finds new rules governing ecological stability.

Illustration of a woman brandishing a shield to keep viruses at bay. One virus has slipped through a small hole in it.
infectious disease

Our Genes May Explain Severity of COVID-19 and Other Infections

By Monique Brouillette
July 27, 2020
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Researchers are examining the power of subtle genetic weaknesses in the immune system to affect the severity of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

John Priscu holds an ice core sample in a sterile laboratory.
Q&A

He Found ‘Islands of Fertility’ Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

By Steve Nadis
July 20, 2020
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John Priscu’s search for life that thrives under ice took him to subglacial lakes at the South Pole. Now he has his eye on Mars and Europa.

Art for "Researchers Rethink Ancestry of Complex Cells"
evolution

Researchers Rethink the Ancestry of Complex Cells

By Christie Wilcox
April 9, 2019
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New studies revise ideas about the symbiosis that gave mitochondria to cells and about whether the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes was one cell or many.


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