Small, cancer-associated DNA circles "hitchhike" on chromosomes during cell division to spread efficiently to daughter cells ...

Scientists at EPFL have unraveled the mystery behind why biological nanopores, tiny molecular holes used in both nature and biotechnology, sometimes behave unpredictably. By experimenting with ...

Life on Earth began simply. For billions of years, tiny microbes ruled the planet. Then, one day in deep time, something changed. Cells gained a nucleus, built inner compartments and learned to ...

The genetic code is the recipe for life, and provides the instructions for how to make proteins, generally using just 20 ...

The origins of complex, nucleated cellular life – everything from amoebas to humans – may date back a lot further in Earth's ...

Padubidri V. Shivaprasad was awarded the prize for pioneering an out-of-the-box solution to the global food crisis: teaching rice to be wild again.

Colibactin is a powerful toxin produced by Escherichia coli and other bacteria living in the human gut. This highly unstable ...

A closeup look at colibactin’s structure reveals chemical motifs that guide its mutation-wreaking “warheads” to specific stretches of DNA.

When DNA breaks, cells must repair it accurately to prevent harmful mutations. Researchers have discovered that during a key ...

Newborn babies admitted to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) rely on the quick decisions and rapid action of the medical team responsible for them. DNA testing is critical to ...

As the threat of antibiotic resistance grows, a Swansea University academic has led the development of a novel technology capable of killing some of the most dangerous bacteria known to medicine—with ...

The innovation centres on a heteromultivalent nanogel: a flexible particle made by crosslinking polymers and adding sugar residues (galactose and fucose) alongside antimicrobial peptides. These sugars ...