Biosingularity

Anyone who’s passed basic biology knows that we get one copy of a gene from our mother, a second from our father. But few people realize that not all of these genes end up being treated equally. Imprinted genes are expressed from only the maternal or paternal allele, rather than both. And, when this process [...]

A mysterious bony growth found in elephants’ feet is actually a sixth “toe”, scientists report. For more than 300 years, the structure has puzzled researchers, but this study suggests that it helps to support elephants’ colossal weight. Fossils reveal that this “pre-digit” evolved about 40 million years ago, at a point when early elephants became [...]

The computer assisted design (CAD) tools that made it possible to fabricate integrated circuits with millions of transistors may soon be coming to the biological sciences. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have developed CAD-type models and simulations for RNA molecules that make it possible to engineer biological components [...]