DNA passed to and from all kinds of organisms, even across kingdoms, has helped shape the tree of life, to a large and undisputed degree in microbes and also unexpectedly in multicellular fungi, plants, and animals.
Though scientists don’t yet know much about it, a newly described process called erebosis might have profound implications for how the gut maintains itself.
Karen Miga discusses how she and collaborators sequenced the missing parts of the human genome almost two decades after the first Human Genome Project published its results.
The discovery could add weight to the hypothesis that the building blocks of life on Earth originally came from space, but some scientists note the possibility of contamination.
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Jan 20, 2022 | 7 min read
Studies have found that organisms can inherit mitochondria from male parents in rare instances, and both theoretical and experimental work hint that this biparental inheritance is more than just a fluke.
A study reveals a connection between the loss of enzymes responsible for removing methyl groups from DNA, nucleic acid knots, and cancer development in mice.
Genes lacking a particular structure known as CpG islands tend to go haywire in older cells, a study finds, potentially contributing to key facets of aging. But it’s not yet clear if the relationship is causal.