Chemists have demonstrated how RNA (ribonucleic acid) might have replicated itself on early Earth -- a key process in the origin of life. Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology ...

For the first time, scientists can view RNA molecules directly inside cells and tissue in minute detail and across the entire human genome concurrently, thanks to new technology created by a Yale ...

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 ...

Jack O’Meara stands outside wearing a dark-blue pullover Jack O’Meara is the CEO and cofounder of Aerska. Credit: Aerska A group of RNA veterans is launching a new start-up aimed at getting ...

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 ...

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 ...