DNA

How life first emerged from non-living matter is one of the most enduring mysteries of science. In a new study, scientists have created self-replicating protocells in the lab, which could represent the “missing link” between chemistry and biology.

Paleontologists have isolated cartilage cells from an exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur fossil. They still contain traces of biomolecules, and the scientists were even able to tell which stage of the natural cycle specific cells were in at death.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia have found a way to accurately measure the age of lobsters using changes in their DNA. The new study is aimed at a better understanding of lobster life cycles and better managing lobster fisheries.

Scientists in the UK have identified a promising new possibility in brain cancer diagnostics, demonstrating a first-of-a-kind test that can detect tiny DNA mutations shed by dying tumor cells in bodily fluids such as blood and urine.

Researchers in Germany have developed a new method to treat viral infections by making traps. The team folded DNA into nano-capsules with specialized binding points inside them, which could grab hold of viruses and render them inert.

The CRISPR gene-editing tool has been successfully used in space for the first time. Researchers onboard the International Space Station have edited colonies of yeast to study how they repair DNA damage, which could one day help protect astronauts.

A study using epigenetic markers to track aging has found prematurely born boys seem to age faster than prematurely born girls. Why is unclear, but the research suggests the health of male preterm survivors should be closely monitored across their life.

It would certainly be upsetting to discover that the beef you had just eaten also contained rat meat. Such things are possible, though, which is why scientists have developed a DNA-based meat-testing kit.

Over the years, archeologists have unearthed the remains of members of the infamous Franklin expedition, although it hasn't been possible to confirm their identities. Thanks to DNA analysis, however, scientists have now done so for the first time.

Tiny robots could serve useful functions, but shrinking actuators has proven challenging. Now researchers at the University of Wollongong have made artificial muscles that surpass your puny natural ones, inspired by the “supercoiling” of DNA strands.

Several hundred million people around the world have safely received a wildly effective COVID-19 vaccine based on mRNA technology. So what exactly is an mRNA vaccine, where did the technology come from, and what other diseases could it be useful for?

Two new studies have shed light on just how often our ancestors got frisky with Neanderthals. Scientists analyzed the genomes of 45,000-year-old human remains found in Czechia and Bulgaria, including the oldest known genome of a modern human.