Two separate laboratory breakthroughs have produced RNA molecules that can build copies of themselves or assemble functional structures without any help from proteins or DNA. These results offer the ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In 1957, just four years after Francis Crick and other scientists solved the riddle of DNA’s structure—the now famous double helix ...

RIKEN researchers have discovered how an enzyme modifies gene expression by targeting certain stretches of messenger RNA ...

Scientists on their quest to find the origin of life have stared into the primordial soup, trying to answer the ultimate ...

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA enzyme, or “ribozyme,” that carries out a fundamental reaction ...

Although there are striking differences between the cells that make up your eyes, kidneys, brain and toes, the DNA blueprint for these cells is essentially the same. Where do those differences come ...

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 ...

Nucleic acids are complex biological molecules that store and transmit genetic information in all living organisms. They are essential for the survival and reproduction of life on Earth. The two main ...