Genetics

At sea, biologists discovered microbial partners that together produce nitrogen, a nutrient essential for life. The pair are in the process of merging into a single organism.

The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while balancing careers in both science and singing.

A mutant seedling revealed how plant tissues scatter incoming light, allowing plants to sense its direction and move toward it.

Modern scientists aren’t content with predicting how life evolves. They want to shape it.

For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand.

A new genetics study of ant “social parasites” shows how complex sets of features can emerge rapidly and potentially split species.

A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals.

Supergenes that lock inherited traits together are widespread in nature. Recent work shows that their blend of genetic benefits and risks for species can be complex.

Everybody gets older, but not everyone ages in the same way. In this episode, Steven Strogatz speaks with Judith Campisi and Dena Dubal, two biomedical researchers who study the aging process.