Biology

Cancer research laboratories have historically studied tumors in vertebrate models, such as monkeys and mice, and in a few invertebrate species, like fruit flies. Only recently have scientists chosen to pursue cancer from a completely new perspective.…

Presented by Yuly Fuentes-Medel Model organism systems amenable to genetic manipulation have made seminal contributions to many aspects of modern science. These organisms with small brains have inspired the discoveries of big ideas in such complex…

About two months ago we published a short report on a new study that pioneered creating an entire chromosome of yeast; an organism with similar cellular organization as humans. Just a week ago, a discussion flared up on Reddit about the consequences for…

While previous gene therapies often made unpredictable changes in the cell’s genetic structure, these researchers showed an efficient method of disrupting a specific gene without making any other changes in DNA, removing unacceptable side-effects.

Presented by Leonora Bittleston The idea of a plant eating an animal is very strange. Scientists were ridiculed when they originally suggested plants could be carnivorous. But now we know that carnivory has actually evolved multiple times in plants, in…

We’re still grappling with the astonishing 2010 discovery that Neanderthals had mated with modern humans [1]. Now two new studies published earlier this year [2, 3] have identified the Neanderthal contributions to our present-day genomes, and also…

Presented by Chris Garris Did you know that the average human gut is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms? These numbers are not from a diseased state, but rather are representative of a normal, healthy human gut. Clearly, this suggests that the…

Where do we come from? How did all the diversity of life originate? These are some of the most intriguing biological questions we still struggle to answer. In order to understand the processes that produce the diversity of life on Earth, evolutionary…

Imagine if, instead of painful and invasive tissue biopsies of solid tumors, all that a physician needed was a 10 mL blood sample (about a tablespoon’s worth) to diagnose cancer, inform treatment decisions, or monitor the response of a tumor to…

Scientists recently analyzed the blood of a woman who lived a healthy life up to the age of 115. They were surprised to discover that 64% of her blood cells were descended from only two different blood stem cells. Is this the key to longevity? There’s…