It's tricky to make an exact copy of yourself. Or at least it is for cells undergoing mitosis, where cells replicate ...

Google DeepMind has released the results of its Gemini-powered algorithm discovery AI, 'AlphaEvolve,' after one year of development. AlphaEvolve works by having Gemini generate candidate new code and ...

Every time a cell divides, it must copy its DNA with extraordinary precision. But this process is constantly challenged by DNA damage. Among the most dangerous lesions are DNA interstrand crosslinks ...

A routine experiment with a new single-cell DNA sequencing method turned into a surprising scientific twist when researchers stumbled upon a bizarre genetic code in a microscopic pond organism.

DNA replication in eukaryotes is a highly orchestrated process that ensures precise genome duplication before cell division. Initiation occurs at multiple replication origins that are licensed in G1 ...

A "potentially hazardous" asteroid contains all of the "letters" that make up DNA, suggesting that these key ingredients for life may be common in the solar system. Researchers made the discovery ...

A sample collected by the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft from the spinning top-like asteroid contained the nucleobases adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, and uracil. When you purchase through links on our ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: The first eukaryotes—the cells that form complex life—likely originated when two microscopic entities merged via a process called endosymbiosis, ...

In a new study, published in Cell, researchers describe a newfound mechanism for creating proteins in a giant DNA virus, comparable to a mechanism in eukaryotic cells. The finding challenges the dogma ...

In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones. By Carl Zimmer A flurry of new studies ...

Breathe easy. It appears our microbial ancestors used oxygen, too. In December 2025, Brett Baker led a research cruise to collect microbial genomes off the coast of Uruguay. In this photo, Tyler Smith ...

DNA doesn’t just sit still inside our cells — it folds, loops, and rearranges in ways that shape how genes behave. Researchers have now mapped this hidden architecture in unprecedented detail, showing ...