Although there are striking differences between the cells that make up your eyes, kidneys, brain and toes, the DNA blueprint ...

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge have discovered a ribozyme that is shockingly small, yet capable of the fundamental steps of self-replication. They call it QT45 — ...

RNA Timeline: A History in Hybridization and Structure Alexander Rich and David Davies discover the double-stranded RNA helix and show that polyribo U and polyribo A hybridize spontaneously.6 Ben Hall ...

This diagram depicts the chemical structure of pyrimidine, a six-membered aromatic ring with two nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3 (highlighted in blue). The remaining positions are occupied by ...

One of the greatest mysteries of our planet is how a soup of lifeless chemicals transformed into the first living cell. There are several competing theories about where this happened, from frozen ...

Life may have begun when RNA molecules began to replicate themselves, and now we’ve finally found an RNA molecule that is very close to being able to do this ...

From vaccines and diagnostics to emerging gene-based therapies, RNA molecules are now central to modern medicine. But as their use continues to grow, so does a fundamental challenge: producing RNA ...

This image depicts the chemical structure of cytosine. It shows a hexagonal ring with nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3, and a primary amine group attached to carbon 4. The two remaining positions ...

Major depression is not only a crisis of mood, it is also a crisis of biology that reshapes the brain itself. As genetic ...