RNA

Preserving its DNA ought to be a cell’s top priority. But bacteria slow their DNA repair to a crawl in favor of proofreading gene transcripts.

Which mattered first at the dawn of life: proteins or nucleic acids? Proteins may have had the edge if a theorized process let them grow long enough to become self-replicating catalysts.

Mathematical insights into how RNA helps viruses pull together their protein shells could guide future studies of viral behavior and function.

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.

All life on Earth is made of molecules that twist in the same direction. New research reveals that this may not always have been so.

Scientists have discovered building blocks similar to those in modern RNA that can effortlessly assemble when mixed in water and heated.

Circulating RNAs carry messages for plants and invertebrates. Do they do the same for us?