biochemistry, genetics & genomics

A “multicomponent” virus isolated from mosquitoes infects in stages and reassembles once the pieces are inside the host.

This year marks the centennial of Calvin Bridges’s description of nondisjunction as proof that chromosomes are vehicles for inheritance.

Panoramix, a newly identified transcription repressor, takes the bounce out of jumping genes.

Understanding the genetics of stem cell population maintenance in plants producing jumbo tomatoes could help scientists generate more-massive fruits.

A chance discovery results in the first report of DNA-based gene silencing in an animal.

DNA from the 40,000-year-old bones of a modern human found in Europe contains Neanderthal genes.

Not only do telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes, they also modulate gene expression over cells’ lifetimes.

The list of the year’s best new products contains both perennial winners and innovative newcomers.

Researchers find more than a dozen brand new viruses lurking in rodents inhabiting the Big Apple.

Genome fusion at stem graft junctions can generate new plant species.

Consortium annotates the human genome with cell type-specific information about transcription start sites, active enhancers, and their expression throughout the body.

Neuronal DNA variation; male hormone sparks mosquito egg production; pulvinar neurons aid primate snake detection; spiders and cryptic female choice

Nobels awarded for vesicle trafficking and computational chemistry; building 3-D microbial communities; mislabeled microbes cause retractions

Professor, Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago. Age: 38

A variety of genetic strategies to counter insect-borne diseases are close to maturity.

First, Aravinda Chakravarti drew a map of how scientists might unravel the genetics of complex disease. Then he blazed the trail.

Synthetic biologists harness software to design genes and networks.

Researchers have pinpointed the region of a key cancer gene that’s involved in tumor suppression.

Large-scale data collection and analysis have fundamentally altered the process and mind-set of biological research.

A trip through the transcriptome