Studies The Scientist covered this year illustrate the expanding importance of genetic and genomic research in all aspects of life science, from ecology to medicine.

Early Neanderthal evolution; developing antivirals to combat polio; the mouth and skin microbiomes; insect-inspired, flight-stabilizing sensors

Scientists are trying to design the last malaria control agent the world will ever need.

Bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of animals may influence the adaptive trajectories of their hosts.

Photo: Steve Bunk Dave Tinnin, field research associate in the University of New Mexico's biology department, takes blood samples and measurements of rodents caught on the research station grounds. At the end of a freeway exit near Soccoro, N.M., the hairpin turn onto a gravel road is marked by a sign that warns, "Wrong Way." But it isn't the wrong way if you want to reach the University of New Mexico's (UNM) long-term ecological research (LTER) station. The sign's subterfuge is the first indi

Once believed to be unique to birds and mammals, sleep is found across the metazoan kingdom. Some animals, it seems, can’t live without it, though no one knows exactly why.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute appoints 33 new researchers, each of whom will receive roughly $9 million over seven years.

Bacteria inhabit most tissues in the human body, and genes from some of these microbes have made their way to the human genome. Could this genetic transfer contribute to diseases such as cancer?

Bats harbor diverse pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS, and MERS viruses. Understanding why could help researchers stymie deadly emerging diseases.

Introducing genetic changes into mosquito populations could be key to effective malaria control.