RNA and DNA extraction kits take formalin-fixed tissue samples by storm, enabling superior quality and yields. Researchers using standard extraction protocols that heat samples to eliminate ...

Although there are striking differences between the cells that make up your eyes, kidneys, brain and toes, the DNA blueprint for these cells is essentially the same. Where do those differences come ...

Primerdesign, part of the Novacyt Group, has launched the exsig® Mag RapidBead Pro Extraction kit, a magnetic bead-based system for rapid nucleic acid purification.

These random molecules were fed a collection of three-base-long RNAs, each linked to a chemical tag. The idea was that if a molecule is capable of ligating one of these short RNA fragments to itself, ...

Scientists may have a step forward in understanding how life on our planet came to exist. The mystery of how tiny molecules of RNA came to be enclosed within membranes, forming the very first cells, ...

Francesca Storici consults at Tessera Therapeutics. She has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Your DNA is continually damaged by sources both ...

Dr. Cech is a biochemist and the author of the forthcoming book “The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets,” from which this essay is adapted. From E=mc² to splitting the atom ...

From vaccines and diagnostics to emerging gene-based therapies, RNA molecules are now central to modern medicine. But as their use continues to grow, so does a fundamental challenge: producing RNA ...

Major depression is not only a crisis of mood, it is also a crisis of biology that reshapes the brain itself. As genetic ...

We’re celebrating 180 years of Scientific American. Explore our legacy of discovery and look ahead to the future. In 1957, just four years after Francis Crick and other scientists solved the riddle of ...