The landmark ideas of Watson and Crick relied heavily on the work of other scientists. What did the duo actually discover? Many people believe that American biologist James Watson and English ...

In Biology 101, we learn that RNA is a single, ribbon-like strand of base pairs that is copied from our DNA and then read like a recipe to build a protein. But there's more to the story. Some RNA ...

Despite being made from a relatively simple set of building blocks, ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a broad array of complex responsibilities. From providing structure to carrying the instructions for ...

When RNA molecules are synthesized by cells — a critical process in the creation of proteins and other cellular functions — they typically undergo a series of “folding” events that determine their ...

Scientists have discovered all five essential nucleobases used in DNA and RNA in pristine samples from asteroid Ryugu, ...

The University of California San Diego has received a $15 million, three-year award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ...

Not all DNA looks like the familiar twisted ladder. Sometimes, parts of our genetic code fold into unusual shapes. One such structure, the G-quadruplex (G4), looks like a knot. These knots can play ...

Some believe the earliest life emerged from self-copying molecules that could mutate and even evolve. But that may not have been enough. Click to tell Google to prioritize Quanta and see more of the ...

Your DNA is continually damaged by sources both inside and outside your body. One especially severe form of damage called a double-strand break involves the severing of both strands of the DNA double ...