In living organisms today, complex molecules like RNA and DNA are constructed with the help of enzymes. So how did these molecules form before life (and enzymes) existed? Why did some molecules end up ...

Natalie Bursztyn 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 ...

The complex precursors to biological molecules can form spontaneously in interstellar space, according to a lab experiment that opens up new pathways for the origin of life in the universe. In the ...

Chromatin condensates are made of hundreds of thousands of fast-moving molecules. When they come together, they display emergent properties that do not exist in the molecules individually. These group ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Water is at the center of one of the enduring questions about how ...

(Nanowerk News) Plastics or DNA: Many molecules are so long that they can form knots, much like tying shoes. Whereas it is still disputed whether right- and left-handed people prefer to tie their ...

What made ribose the sugar of choice for life's code? Scientists at Scripps Research may have cracked a major part of this mystery. Their experiments show that ribose binds more readily and ...

No one saw the blob takeover coming. In 2009 a team of biophysicists led by Anthony A. Hyman of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, were studying ...

A new study has uncovered how an exceptionally scarce protein can orchestrate the assembly of large-scale gene-silencing structures inside cells, and what happens when that process breaks down. The ...

Water behaves in remarkable ways when heated and pressurized beyond its critical point. Under these extreme conditions, known as supercritical water, it no longer acts like an ordinary liquid. Instead ...