MicroRNAs from plants accumulate in mammalian blood and tissues, where they can regulate gene expression.

Heat-sensing protein channels in vampire bats allow the flying mammals to find the best place to sink their teeth into their prey.

New types of biological filaments are turning up in yeast, fly, bacterial cells and in rat neurons, and they may yield clues to how the cytoskeleton evolved from metabolically active enzymes.

An account of the path to realizing tools for controlling brain circuits with light.

The optogenetic toolset is composed of genetically encoded molecules that, when targeted to specific neurons in the brain, enable the electrical activity of those neurons to be driven or silenced by light. 

A powerful new X-ray–generating laser is imaging smaller crystals than ever before.

This animation illustrates optogenetics—a radical new technology for controlling brain activity with light. 

Take a tour of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), whose ultra-powerful X-ray beam is being used to solve the structures of proteins that are notoriously hard to crystallize.

A powerful new X-ray–generating laser is imaging smaller crystals than ever before.

“This is my trophy,” says biologist Michael Edidin, walking across his office at Johns Hopkins University to pick up two oversized clock hands, once part of the stately clock tower that still stands on the Baltimore campus.