genome – Quanta Magazine

The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes

Veronique Greenwood — Thu, 02 May 2024 14:23:48 +0000

Every organism visible to the naked eye is a mass of genetically identical cells. Each of these multicellular creatures started as a single cell that divided countless times to produce its body. And while each cell contains the same genome, they express their DNA in a variety of ways, giving rise to specialized cells and tissues that perform different roles, such as skin, liver or immune cells.

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Viruses Finally Reveal Their Complex Social Life

Carl Zimmer — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 14:55:46 +0000

Ever since viruses came to light in the late 1800s, scientists have set them apart from the rest of life. Viruses were far smaller than cells, and inside their protein shells they carried little more than genes. They could not grow, copy their own genes or do much of anything. Researchers assumed that each virus was a solitary particle drifting alone through the world, able to replicate only if it...

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A ‘Lobby’ Where a Molecule Mob Tells Genes What to Do

Philip Ball — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 15:47:52 +0000

The discovery during the Human Genome Project in the early 2000s that we humans have only about 20,000 protein-coding genes — about as many as the tiny soil-dwelling nematode worm, and less than half as many as the rice plant — came as a shock. That blow to our pride was softened, though, by the idea that the human genome is rich in regulatory connections. Our genes interact in a dense network...

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The Year in Biology

Hannah Waters — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 19:13:40 +0000

Revolutions in the biological sciences can take many forms. Sometimes they erupt from the use of a novel tool or the invention of a radical theory that suddenly opens so many new avenues for research, it can feel dizzying. Sometimes they take shape slowly, through the slow accumulation of studies, each one representing years of painstaking work, that collectively chip away at the prevailing wisdom...

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Evolving Bacteria Can Evade Barriers to ‘Peak’ Fitness

Veronique Greenwood — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 14:53:05 +0000

Nearly a century ago, the evolutionary theorist Sewall Wright imagined a landscape of mountains and valleys. The peaks represented states of high evolutionary fitness for organisms, while the troughs between them represented states of low fitness. Organisms might move through the landscape by a process of mutation, climbing the peaks as their changing genes helped them achieve greater fitness.

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