RNA has newly identified role: Repairing serious DNA damage to maintain the genome

Researchers discovered a previously unknown function of RNA, potentially opening the door to new ways to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Francesca Storici, Professor of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology • conversation
June 16, 2025 • ~6 min

If it looks like a dire wolf, is it a dire wolf? How to define a species is a scientific and philosophical question

Figuring out whether de-extinction is possible is as much a technical puzzle as a philosophical one. Add two kinds of DNA to the mix, and it gets even more complex.

Elay Shech, Professor of Philosophy, Auburn University • conversation
May 30, 2025 • ~12 min

What does it mean for Biden’s prostate cancer to be ‘aggressive’? A urologic surgeon explains

Doctors examine a tumor in several different ways to determine whether a cancer is aggressive – and what kinds of treatments, if any, might work best.

Jason P. Joseph, Assistant Professor of Urology, University of Florida • conversation
May 21, 2025 • ~8 min

How your genes interact with your environment changes your disease risk − new research counts the ways

Environmental factors such as lifestyle and the medications you take influence the effects your genes have on your body − and can clarify how diseases develop.

Arun Durvasula, Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California • conversation
May 14, 2025 • ~10 min

Can we really resurrect extinct animals, or are we just creating hi-tech lookalikes?

Are new approaches to recreating long-lost animals simply creating imitations?

Timothy Hearn, Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics, Anglia Ruskin University • conversation
April 10, 2025 • ~9 min

23andMe is potentially selling more than just genetic data – the personal survey info it collected is just as much a privacy problem

If you were a 23andMe customer, your genetic and personal information could be used in civil or criminal cases, targeted advertising, medical discrimination and so much more.

Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan • conversation
April 2, 2025 • ~10 min

Genomic sequencing reveals previously unknown genes that make microbes resistant to drugs and hard to kill

Scientists have described antimicrobial resistance as an overlooked pandemic. Improving surveillance can help prevent deadly outbreaks.

Nneka Vivian Iduu, Graduate Research Assistant in Pathobiology, Auburn University • conversation
March 24, 2025 • ~8 min

Mice with woolly mammoth traits could pave the way for the resurrection of an ice age giant

The “woolly mice” have the thick, shaggy hair of mammoths, along with a fat metabolism gene.

Timothy Hearn, Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics, Anglia Ruskin University • conversation
March 5, 2025 • ~5 min

Ancient DNA study shows women at the centre of societies in iron age Britain – supporting decades of archaeology

Genetics shows that women stayed put in Late Iron Age Dorset, while men moved to other groups.

Rachel Pope, Reader in European Prehistory, Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool • conversation
Jan. 23, 2025 • ~9 min

Microbes can colonize space, produce drugs and create energy − researchers are simulating their inner workings to harness how

Using digital blueprints of the metabolism of microbes, scientists can simulate expensive and time-intensive experiments set in space, power plants and farm fields.

Blaise Manga Enuh, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Microbial Genomics and Systems Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison • conversation
Jan. 6, 2025 • ~8 min

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