In living organisms today, complex molecules like RNA and DNA are constructed with the help of enzymes. So how did these molecules form before life (and enzymes) existed? Why did some molecules end up ...

Researchers demonstrated how amino acids could spontaneously attach to RNA under early Earth-like conditions using thioesters, providing a long-sought clue to the origins of protein synthesis. This ...

RNA-binding proteins use a dual binding mechanism involving zinc finger (ZnF) domains and intrinsically disordered regions (IDR), reports a new study from the Institute of Science, Tokyo, Japan. Using ...

Life may have first emerged in deep sea thermal vents or surface hot springs (Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring is shown here). New research shows how high-energy thioesters could ...

When cells expire, they leave behind an activity log of sorts: RNA expelled into blood plasma that reveals changes in gene expression, cellular signaling, tissue injury and other biological processes.

For the first time, researchers have successfully extracted and decoded RNA from an extinct animal. The thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was a wolflike marsupial that went extinct after ...

Francesca Storici consults at Tessera Therapeutics. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Your DNA is continually damaged by sources both ...