molecular biology

One of the most profound mysteries facing science is how exactly life arose from non-living matter. Now, scientists have pinpointed a particular peptide that potentially kickstarted life – and it could all be nickelback’s fault.

A new study suggests natural selection was at work before life itself existed on Earth. By recreating the primordial soup, scientists identified how a cocktail of specific amino acids informed the genetic code of every single lifeform on the planet.

DeepMind has expanded its AlphaFold Protein Structure Database to include almost 200 million structures, including almost every protein known to science. Open to the public, this could provide a huge boost to an almost endless variety of research.

Princeton University researchers have made a breakthrough in the world of molecular machines, by using self-assembling peptides to form the world's tiniest interlocked biomechanical structures, measuring just one billionth of a meter in size.

How life got started on Earth is one of science's most profound mysteries. Now scientists have found that lightning strikes could have contributed a key ingredient, which suggests it could be easier than we thought to spark life on other planets.

The latest ingredients of life to be discovered off-world are certain bio-essential sugars, which have now been found in meteorites. This could lend weight to the idea that meteorite impacts are responsible for the origin of life on Earth.

The biggest missing link lies between non-living matter and the earliest living cells. A new study has found a mechanism that may have helped droplets transition into early cells, taking place in ponds, puddles and waterways that dried out and refilled repeatedly over time.

The CRISPR gene-editing system is usually known for helping scientists treat genetic diseases, but the technology has a whole range of possible uses in synthetic biology too. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have used CRISPR to build functional biocomputers inside human cells.

With Christmas just behind us and New Year’s around the corner, many are familiar with the effects of alcohol, but how it works in the brain is still shrouded in mystery. Now scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have discovered a new step in the intoxication process – by getting flies drunk.

DARPA is kicking off a new research program aiming to explore how molecular biology could be used to slow the speed of living systems, thereby extending the window for treatment after a traumatic injury and increasing the wounded's chances of survival.​

A team of scientists at Stanford University have built on a technique called "single-molecule microscopy" to see just how DNA-bound dye molecules orient themselves, flop around and glow in the presence of polarized laser light.