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Living World

The silent majority: RNAs that don’t make proteins

Once considered cellular junk, non-coding RNAs are emerging as key players in everything from brain development to cancer — with much still to be discovered

Sweet! The cell’s sugary coating comes into view

Built from thickets of glucose, galactose, mannose and more, the glycome plays key roles in cell communication, immunity and the blood-brain barrier

Field of clones: How horse replicas came to dominate polo

In Argentina, equine cloning in polo is no longer a rarity. It’s now a mature industry — although ethical dilemmas surrounding it persist.

Top science stories of 2025

In a year of funding chaos, ongoing climate change and pollution perils, we also saw the most powerful telescope yet, personalized gene therapy, and the next-best-thing to an HIV vaccine — not to mention a brand-new color

Can tinkering with plant pores protect crops against drought?

It’s not an open-and-shut case. But researchers are finding out plenty by genetically altering the numbers of these openings, as well as simulating future atmospheres, and more.

Animals that eat poisons and don’t die

Critters consuming species that contain deadly toxins have evolved a suite of clever strategies to keep out of harm’s way

The clock is ticking: How epigenetics could help save wildlife from collapse

In polar bears, dolphins, baboons and more, molecular signatures of aging are changing how conservationists assess population health, resilience and risk

How the cavefish lost its eyes — again and again

Mexican tetras that got swept into pitch-black caverns had no use for the energetically costly organs. They lost their eyes in multiple ways — and gained some nifty traits too.

Dogs and their people: Companions in cancer research

Canine and human cancers bear many similarities — studies in dogs are helping to develop treatments for both species

Viruses that roam the fungal kingdom

Mushrooms and other fungi can harbor hidden companions — and some of these may fight pesky or dangerous molds

How cancer cells travel to new tissues and take hold

Understanding these astonishing migrations through the human body, known as metastases, could suggest novel treatments

Return of the California condor

North America’s largest bird disappeared from the wild in the late 1980s. Reintroduction work in the United States and Mexico has brought this huge vulture back to the skies. This is the story of its comeback.

We are all genetic mosaics

Picture your body: It’s a collection of cells carrying thousands of DNA errors accrued over a lifetime — many harmless, some bad, and at least a few that may be good for you.

The ones who need little sleep

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

Night of the zombie insects

A parasitic fungus takes over the brains of flies and controls them for its own sinister ends. Here’s the science behind the horror.

When ribosomes go rogue

Unusual variations in the cellular protein factory can skew development, help cancer spread and more. But ribosome variety may also play biological roles, scientists say.

We are family: Tracing the evolution of animals

To understand the origins of multicelled life, researchers are studying a motley assortment of simpler animal relatives. The commonalities they’re unearthing offer a trove of clues about our mutual past.

Hummingbirds thrive on an extreme lifestyle. Here’s how.

Soldiering through nightly suspended animation, a (nearly) all-sugar diet, backwards flight and long migrations, the birds’ tiny physiques prove mighty

Your cells are dying. All the time.

Some go gently into the night. Others die less prettily in freak accidents or deadly invasions, or after a showy display.

Targeting the racial disparity in kidney disease

Some people of West African descent face a higher risk of renal failure. New drugs based on gene research may help right the ship — if they can reach everyone who needs them.

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