Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function. But how and why did it come to be the way it is? Subscribe ...

For the uninitiated, biohacking or Do-It-Yourself Biology (DIYBio) might sound like kind of creepy, more like something out of a Frankenstein movie. But the time for it appears to have arrived: ...

Despite awe-inspiring diversity, nearly every lifeform – from bacteria to blue whales – shares the same genetic code. How and when this code came about has been the subject of much scientific ...

An international team led by Monash University researchers has uncovered the genetic code governing the way genetic mutations affect mRNA and result in disease. This breakthrough, detailed in a new ...

"The genetic code is this amazing thing in which a string of DNA or RNA containing sequences of four nucleotides is translated into protein sequences using 20 different amino acids," said Joanna Masel ...

The DNA of nearly all life on Earth contains many redundancies, and scientists have long wondered whether these redundancies served a purpose or if they were just leftovers from evolutionary processes ...

Carolyn Abraham is a science journalist and the author of The Juggler’s Children: A Journey into Family, Legend and the Genes that Bind Us, a bestselling memoir that explored the power of DNA tests to ...

Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in ...

A new study led by Winnipeg researchers suggests that flipping a genetic switch could stop cancer cells from multiplying and heart cells from dying. The study led by Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum of St.