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

The factors involved in the removal of RNA primers during plastid DNA (ptDNA) replication have been unclear. We now identify a plastid-localized 5′–3′ exonuclease (PEN1) that mediates the removal of ...

Trinucleotide triphosphates act as both chaperones and as substrates for primer-free RNA synthesis by a polymerase ribozyme. They invade and maintain the single-stranded state of RNA strands, thereby ...

A chemical modification in the HIV-1 RNA genome whose function has been a matter of scientific debate is now confirmed to be key to the virus's ability to survive and thrive after infecting host cells ...

Liquid brine veins, where RNA molecules can replicate, surround solid ice crystals in water ice, as seen with an electron microscope. Chemists at UCL and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have ...

For decades scientists have recognized that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a formidable viral pathogen. After years of probing work and extensive experimentation, a Yale research team has ...

Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are viruses that infect bacteria. Using phages therapeutically could be very useful in fighting antibiotic-resistant pathogens, but the molecular interactions ...

IS110 transposons are a large, diverse family of bacterial insertion sequences (IS elements)—small, mobile DNA elements that ...

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 ...

By John Vandermosten, CFA NASDAQ: RNAZ READ THE FULL RNAZ RESEARCH NOTE RNA Oncology Ribonucleic acid (RNA) oncology is a specialized field in the cancer space that focuses on using RNA-based ...