If it’s beyond repair, you find something else to do its job. This could soon apply to rods and cones, the light-sensitive cells in our eyes that can wither with age, causing blindness. A drug has been found that coaxes neighbours of ailing cells to do their work for them. Image: dullhunk
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The most primitive animals may have thrived in water that contained almost no oxygen. The finding suggests that the rise of animals could have created our modern, oxygen-rich oceans, rather than oxygen-rich oceans triggering the rise of animals. Image: Bill & Mark Bell
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Before volcanoes erupt, they must “defrost”. The magma beneath some of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes might be relatively cool and solid for more than 99 per cent of the time. That means evidence that it has warmed up and melted could be a sign of an imminent eruption. Image: dherrera_96
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Last month, two groups announced that they had performed a mind-boggling feat. They targeted and disabled nearly every one of our genes in cells growing in a dish. The genetic engineering tool used to perform the task has been in development for little more than a year – but it promises to revolutionise gene editing. Image: Martina Gobec
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“Phosphorene” – which has a similar structure to carbon-based graphene but is made of phosphorus atoms – is a natural semiconductor and so may be better at turbocharging the next generation of computers. Image: CORE-Materials
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