The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. For a molecule of RNA, the world is a dangerous place. Unlike DNA, which can persist for millions of years in its remarkably stable, ...

Biologists are quietly rewriting what it means to be alive, and the human body has become one of their strangest frontiers. Inside our cells and microbiomes, researchers are uncovering entities that ...

Viruses are entities that have to infect other cells in order to replicate. They may have genomes that are made of DNA or RNA. We are still discovering new types of RNA viruses, as shown in two new ...

A group of interdisciplinary Boston University researchers worked together to investigate the promising technology of self-amplifying RNA as a way to deliver lifesaving drugs and create more effective ...

Dr. Cech is a biochemist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted. From E=mc² to splitting the atom ...

Biologists have discovered a new type of RNA-splicing regulation that helps to determine which protein-coding exons will be included in messenger RNA transcripts. RNA splicing is a cellular process ...

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 ...