The new findings strengthen the "RNA world" hypothesis that describes how the first life on Earth could have used RNA instead ...

One-letter difference in our DNA determines whether BCG vaccine provides good protection against tuberculosis or not. Researchers have elucidated how that one letter difference affects the activation ...

RNA’s Surprising Role in DNA Repair New insights could lead to improved treatments for cancer and other diseases. Francesca Storici and her research team discovered a surprising role for RNA in DNA ...

DNA and RNA methylation, initially thought to operate as distinct pathways, have been shown to interact closely, shifting our understanding of gene regulation. A team of researchers from the ...

We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. In 1957, just four years after Francis Crick and other scientists solved the riddle of ...

Comparison of a single-stranded RNA and a double-stranded DNA with their corresponding nucleobases. (Image: Wikimedia Commons, CC SA 3.0) The most common type of base pairing is the Watson-Crick base ...

Fargo, ND, is probably better known for its blizzards, floods, and eponymous TV series than its biotechnological prowess. Yet for the past 25 years, Aldevron, a manufacturer of DNA, RNA, and proteins, ...

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 ...