The human body and its organs are composed of a wide variety of cell types. Although all cells contain the same genes, they function very differently—partly because protein interactions differ between cells.

The majority of RNAs in each of our cells don't code for any of the thousands of proteins that make up our bodies. Instead, noncoding RNAs have critical roles in many biological processes—such as gene expression—making them ideal targets for a variety of

The single-celled parasite Entamoeba histolytica infects 50 million people each year, killing nearly 70,000. Usually, this wily, shape-shifting amoeba causes nothing worse than diarrhea. But sometimes it triggers severe, even fatal disease by chewing ulce

Microbial ecosystems—for example, in seawater, the soil or in the human gut—are astonishingly diverse, but researchers often struggle to reproduce this diversity in the lab: Many microorganisms die when attempts are made to cultivate them.

Scientists at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, have captured real-time footage showing how a key hormone receptor activates genes, offering a clearer view of one of the most fundamental processes in biology.

New laboratory research shows that when viruses attack a species that forms toxic algal blooms, those thick, blue-green slicks that choke waterways and that threaten ecosystems, drinking water, and public health, what results might be even worse than befo

A wild ginger has a clever trick up its sleeve to lure in pollinators. No, it's not a sweet fragrance that fills the air, but the foul stench of rotting flesh and dung. To attract carrion-loving flies and beetles, the flowers of the plant genus Asarum br

Originally from South America, the charismatic tegu made its way to the United States via the pet trade of the 1990s. After wreaking havoc in Florida's ecosystems, the exotic lizard was classified as an invasive species. But a recent discovery from the F

A multi-institutional collaboration of synthetic biology research centers in China has developed a genetically engineered strain of Vibrio natriegens capable of bioremediating complex organic pollutants, including biphenyl, phenol, naphthalene, dibenzofur

Skoltech researchers have fashioned a microstructure made of modified glass fiber that could in principle function as a tiny lantern for medical probes exploring the interior of blood vessels and other tubular cavities in the body.

Natural and engineered systems have a whole world of chemistry inside their tiny pores—known as nanopores—that changes depending on the chemical functional groups inside.

Vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) is a nonlinear spectroscopic method widely used to investigate the molecular structure and dynamics of surface systems. However, in far-field observations, the spatial resolution of this method is constrained by