Move over DNA, its RNA’s time to shine. A revolutionary RNA-editing tool promises to transform our understanding of RNA’s role in our growth and development, and provide a new avenue for treating infectious diseases and cancer. Image: AJC ajcann.wordpress.com
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Yeast-grown artemisinin is being hailed as a triumph for synthetic biology. It is touted as a backup source of the potent anti-malaria drug in case of shortfalls in traditional supplies from a plant called sweet wormwood. But the story isn’t that simple. Are the yeast in Bulgaria a one-off vanity project that will lead nowhere? The answer could soon be arriving on your dinner plate. Image: henna lion
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Where on Earth is the cradle of life? The widespread view is that life began in the oceans, in the water that surrounds deep-sea hydrothermal vents. But that story is being challenged by new evidence that life began on land, which is deepening a rift between origin-of-life biologists. Image: Anna S. Karyagina
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To survive in frigid polar regions, many cold-blooded creatures employ a natural antifreeze to protect themselves from the damage that large ice crystals would cause. These antifreeze molecules lock onto ice crystals, but not liquid water – though how they do this has been a mystery. Image: derekkeats
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There’s some humbling news from the chemical world for anyone who has ever found themselves lost in a garden maze. A simple droplet of organic solvent can find its way through a complicated labyrinth with nothing more to go on than a slight pH difference. Image: ACS
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