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molecular biology

Latest Articles

Illustration of bats shedding their genome by Skip Sterling
molecular biology

Shrinking Bat DNA and Elastic Genomes

By Ariel Bleicher
August 1, 2017
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Species gain and shed startling amounts of DNA as they evolve, and even genomes that look stable churn furiously. What does it mean?

Virus Hamiltonian Path
molecular biology

The Illuminating Geometry of Viruses

By Jordana Cepelewicz
July 19, 2017
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Mathematical insights into how RNA helps viruses pull together their protein shells could guide future studies of viral behavior and function.

Missing Mutations Suggest a Reason for Sex
molecular biology

Missing Mutations Suggest a Reason for Sex

By Veronique Greenwood
July 13, 2017
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Sex might help natural selection purge excessive mistakes from our genes.

GFAP staining in glial cells, neurofilament protein in axons and DNA in cell nuclei
Abstractions blog

Cell Atlases Reveal Biology’s Frontiers

By Jordana Cepelewicz
July 12, 2017
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New techniques expose unexpected diversity within seemingly uniform tissues.

Bear melting still
molecular biology

How Heat Kills Cells

By Veronique Greenwood
May 9, 2017
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The proteins that unravel as the temperature starts to rise turn out to be among the most vital.

Abstractions blog

How Viruses May Have Led to Complex Life

By Jeanette Kazmierczak
January 24, 2017
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Without viruses, we might never have evolved.

Shapeshifting Protein: Still
molecular biology

The Shape-Shifting Army Inside Your Cells

By Alla Katsnelson
January 18, 2017
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Proteins work like rigid keys to activate cellular functions — or so everyone thought. Scientists are discovering a huge number of proteins that shape-shift to do their work, upending a century-old maxim of biology.

Illustration: Viruses Find a New Way to Hijack Cells
viruses

Viruses Find a New Way to Hijack Cells

By Veronique Greenwood
December 6, 2016
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A virus that causes crippling birth defects has been shown to do something else: It changes thousands of messages coming from DNA that control normal cellular activities.

A petri dish with an array of mutant yeast strains.
Abstractions blog

Why Some Genetic Miscues Are Helpful

By Veronique Greenwood
November 3, 2016
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A new look at the reasons why organisms missing pairs of genes sometimes do much better than normal.


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