A hydrothermal vent spewing hot, mineral-rich fluid
| 4 min read
A thermodynamic analysis of more than 400 chemical reactions that likely took place in the ancestor of all life finds most would spontaneously occur at hydrothermal vents, thanks to the hydrogen these geological formations emit.

Origin of life

Origins Reimagined

Book Excerpt from Every Life is On Fire

Reconsidering Life’s Origin

Image of the Day: Fractal Formation

RNA-DNA Chimeras Might Have Supported the Origin of Life on Earth

artficial intelligence

Cerebral Inception

RNA might have incorporated inosine, a derivative of adenosine, in place of guanosine

Primordial RNA May Have Contained Inosine

Geologists, paleontology, excavation

Oldest Evidence of Terrestrial Life on a Young Earth

Mitochondria’s Bacterial Origins Upended

Search for Life on the Red Planet

Building Blocks of Life May Have Formed in Water Droplets

Twists and Turns

Molecule Similar to Peptides Detected in Protostars

Life Before 4 Billion Years Ago?

Early Code

Contributors

New Legs to Stand On

On the Origins of Life

From the Feature Well

Comet Lander Finds Organic Matter

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An illustration of red-colored meat products against a peach background.

The Alpha-Gal Syndrome Story: How Researchers Traced a Red-Meat Allergy to Ticks

An obese mouse on the left compared with normal control on right.

How Cysteine Depletion Drives Cells to Burn Fat 

Photo of John Calhoun crouches within his rodent utopia-turned-dystopia

Universe 25 Experiment

Green clusters of moss on a petri dish against a white background.

Moss Medicines: The Next Revolution in Biotech?

Multimedia

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

A large number of stylized antibodies

The Holy Grail Hunt in De Novo Antibody Design

Twist Bio 
July Digest 2025
July 2025, Issue 1

What Causes an Earworm?

Memory-enhancing neural networks may also drive involuntary musical loops in the brain.

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Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Explore synthetic DNA’s many applications in cancer research

Weaving the Fabric of Cancer Research with Synthetic DNA

Twist Bio 
Illustrated plasmids in bright fluorescent colors

Enhancing Elution of Plasmid DNA

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An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

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Products

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Sino Biological Sets New Industry Standard with ProPure Endotoxin-Free Proteins made in the USA

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Introducing the iQue 5 HTS Platform: Empowering Scientists  with Unbeatable Speed and Flexibility for High Throughput Screening by Cytometry

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Vanderbilt Selects Parse Biosciences GigaLab to Generate Atlas of Early Neutralizing Antibodies to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella

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Shift Bioscience proposes improved ranking system for virtual cell models to accelerate gene target discovery