Viruses are entities that have to infect other cells in order to replicate. They may have genomes that are made of DNA or RNA. We are still discovering new types of RNA viruses, as shown in two new ...

This article explores how challenges such as sequence optimization, immune activation and off-target effects are being addressed to enhance the safety, durability and efficacy of RNA therapeutics.

The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets. Thomas Cech. W.W. Norton; 304 pages; $28.99 and £23.99 All this is the subject of Thomas Cech’s new book, “The Catalyst”. The author ...

All starting from the same DNA, neurons ultimately take on individual characteristics in the brain and body. Differences in ...

Thomas Gingeras did not intend to upend basic ideas about how the human body works. In 2012 the geneticist, now at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York State, was one of a few hundred colleagues ...

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 ...

The natural RNAi mechanism can be directed by either short interfering RNA (siRNA) or microRNA (miRNA). 1 There are four key steps in the RNAi pathway. When miRNA acts as the guide for RNAi, only a ...

Stanford Medicine researchers have developed a blood test capable of detecting cancers, the ways cancer resists treatments and tissue injury caused by non-cancerous conditions. The new test analyzes ...