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Epigenetic ‘Clocks’ Predict Animals’ True Biological Age

August 17, 2022

A statistical analysis of chemical tags on DNA may help unify disparate theories of aging.

What Is Life?

June 15, 2022

Without a good definition of life, how do we look for it on alien planets? Steven Strogatz speaks with Robert Hazen, a mineralogist and astrobiologist, and Sheref Mansy, a chemist, to learn more.

How Could Life Evolve From Cyanide?

June 1, 2022

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.

Why ‘De-Extinction’ Is Impossible (But Could Work Anyway)

May 9, 2022

Several projects are aiming to bring back mammoths and other species that have vanished from the planet. Whether that’s technically possible is beside the point.

In Test Tubes, RNA Molecules Evolve Into a Tiny Ecosystem

May 5, 2022

When researchers gave a genetic molecule the ability to replicate, it evolved over time into a complex network of “hosts” and “parasites” that both competed and cooperated to survive.

Why Is Inflammation a Dangerous Necessity?

April 20, 2022

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.

Life With Longer Genetic Codes Seems Possible — but Less Likely

April 11, 2022

Life could use a more expansive genetic code in theory, but new work shows that improving on three-letter codons would be a challenge.

Untangling Why Knots Are Important

April 6, 2022

Steven Strogatz explores the mysteries of knots with the mathematicians Colin Adams and Lisa Piccirillo.

The Year in Biology

December 21, 2021

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.

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