Two separate laboratory breakthroughs have produced RNA molecules that can build copies of themselves or assemble functional ...

Ask a friend what DNA is and, chances are, they have a general idea. Seventy years after scientists discovered the two-stranded helix, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is widely understood as the keeper of ...

Researchers are embarking on the RNA equivalent of the Human Genome Project, including sequencing all the chemical ...

This image illustrates the process of gene transcription within a cell. The DNA double helix unwinds to expose a specific sequence, allowing RNA polymerase to synthesize a complementary pre-mRNA ...

Ribonucleic acid, commonly known as RNA, is involved in many biological functions, and some, including gene silencing, are utilized to cure diseases. RNA has recently gained attention as a promising ...

More than four billion years ago, Earth was a very different place. Pools of water froze and thawed in cycles, minerals shaped reactions, and molecules bumped into each other by chance. Out of this ...

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 ...

How does a cell know when it’s been damaged? A molecular alarm, set off by mutated RNA and colliding ribosomes, signals danger. When the sun shines on your skin, what does it hit? When it causes a ...

As RNA therapeutics evolve far beyond their vaccine origins, a new generation of scientists and manufacturers is rethinking how to produce these complex medicines safely, efficiently, and at scale.