Viruses are so simple in their structure, they may not even qualify as living things. Yet, they are ruthless in their robotic ...

We could see a mass extinction event, an existential threat to multicellular life as we know it. Effective biocontainment, ...

A synthetic microbiome therapy, tested in mice, protects against severe symptoms of a gut infection that is notoriously ...

Even the most disparate forms of life on this planet have one thing in common—they're made of the same building blocks. As scientists seek to better understand the molecular nature of life, the ...

“Mirror bacteria” made in a lab could endanger all life on earth, an international group of leading scientists have warned in a new report. All building-block molecules of life like DNA, proteins and ...

An illustration of E. coli. Scientists have been racing to shrink the genetic code of this bacterium. Kateryna Kon / Science Photo Library via Getty Images The DNA of nearly all life on Earth is made ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Kate Adamala, University of Minnesota (THE CONVERSATION) Most major biological ...

An international group of researchers has recently warned the broader scientific community and the public of the risks of mirror life—specifically, the creation of mirror microbes by scientists in the ...

Earth’s most diverse biological entities are the viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages (phages). They are rich resources for discovering proteins and tools for biotechnology, but many ...

NIST researcher Elizabeth Strychalski’s research group is helping to establish the measurements and standards needed for progress in engineering biology, also known as synthetic biology. For over a ...

Craig Venter has done it. After some fifteen years of research and $40 million, the pioneering scientist has created what some are calling the first "synthetic cell." His team synthesized a bacterial ...