Researchers have discovered how cells activate a last-resort DNA repair system when severe damage strikes. When genetic tangles overwhelm normal repair pathways, cells flip on a fast but error-prone ...

One of the most detailed 3D maps of how the human chromosomes are organized and folded within a cell's nucleus is published in Nature. Chromosomes are thread-like structures that carry a cell's ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Matthew F. Erskine is a trusts and estates attorney. Imagine opening a birthday gift DNA kit and discovering you're entitled to ...

Gerlinde Bigga does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In 1976, workers excavating a tunnel for the Toronto subway system ...

Scientists have created a live-cell DNA sensor that reveals how damage appears and disappears inside living cells, capturing the entire repair sequence as it unfolds. Instead of freezing cells at ...

“The laws of inheritance are quite unknown,” Charles Darwin acknowledged in 1859. The discovery of DNA’s shape altered how we conceived of life itself. The X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin ...

James D. Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died, according to ...

People were always aware that things like physical features and biological quirks tended to run in families, but no one ever really knew why. The 1940s marked a turning point when scientists finally ...

Is it the invasion of the genome snatchers? Just in case the idea of aliens walking around in human skin suits wasn’t frightening enough. An outlandish study asserts that aliens might have abducted us ...

The world's oldest DNA comes from a 2.4 million-year-old ecosystem in Greenland. Will scientists eventually sequence even older DNA? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

For years, Customs and Border Protection agents have been quietly harvesting DNA from American citizens, including minors, and funneling the samples into an FBI crime database, government data shows.