Symbiosis is so much part of life on Earth that it has shaped the evolution and structure of cells. It’s happening almost everywhere we look, including inside our gut.
Scientists could one day find traces of life on Enceladus, an ocean-covered moon orbiting Saturn.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has geysers shooting tiny grains of ice into space. These grains could hold traces of life − but researchers need the right tools to tell.
Chemotherapy is used to treat all lung cancer patients. Yet many would not need such invasive treatment if diagnosis of the risk of recurrence were more refined. A new technology could change all that.
(Shutterstock)
Sarah Diepstraten, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) and John (Eddie) La Marca, WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
A cancer that spreads is much more dangerous. Here’s why – and how it happens.
In primary production, inorganic carbon is used to build the organic molecules life needs.
(Shutterstock)
Over two billion years from now, Earth will no longer be able to sustain life. A new study looks at how much life has ever existed and what this means for the discovery of new life-supporting planets.
This image of actin filaments in a cell was taken using a type of superresolution microscopy.
Xiaowei Zhuang, HHMI, Harvard University, and Nature Publishing Group/NIH via Flickr
Superresolution microscopy allowed researchers to view cells at the molecular level. Improvements on the technique can help study the building blocks of complex cell processes over time.
While some people may be older in chronological age, their biological age might be much younger.
FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images
Aging is a culmination of factors spanning from your cells to your environment. A number of interconnected processes determine how quickly your body is able to repair and recover from damage.
Cell cultures are often grown in petri dishes.
Wladimir Bulgar/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Cell cultures are common tools in biology and drug development. Bringing them up to scale to meet the meat needs of societies will require further development.
Candidiasis is a severe fungal infection that can spread easily in medical facilities.
Atlas of Pulmonary Pathology/Flickr
Multidrug-resistant fungal infections are an emerging global health threat. Figuring out how fungi evade treatments offers new avenues to counter resistance.
Cells move their genetic material from one place to another in the form of RNA.
Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Making sure RNA molecules are in the right place at the right time in a cell is critical to development and normal function. Researchers are figuring out exactly how they get to where they need to go.
Maybe the first life on Earth was part of an ‘RNA world.’
Artur Plawgo/Science Photo Library via Getty Images
Fossil evidence of how the earliest life on Earth came to be is hard to come by. But scientists have come up with a few theories based on the microbes, viruses and prions existing today.
Exercising regularly, and spending time outdoors can improve your health.
Shutterstock
Cancer cells are ‘cheaters’ that do not cooperate with the rest of the body. Certain microbes in your diet can either protect against or promote tumor formation by influencing cell cooperation.
The lung-on-a-chip can mimic both the physical and mechanical qualities of a human lung.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University/Flickr
Yizeng Li, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Counterintuitively, cells move faster in thicker fluids. New research on breast cancer cells explains why, and reveals the role that fluid viscosity plays in metastasis.
Cryo-electron tomography shows what molecules look like in high-resolution – in this case, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Nanographics
Many microscopy techniques have won Nobel Prizes over the years. Advancements like cryo-ET that allow scientists to see the individual atoms of cells can reveal their biological functions.