Explore The RNA World and the 'sweet spot' for life's earliest beginnings on Earth. Discover how RNA catalyzed life and the precise conditions that allowed ...

To our immune system, naked RNA is a sign of a viral or bacterial invasion and must be attacked. But our own cells also have RNA. To ward off trouble, our cells clothe their RNA in sugars, Vijay ...

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 ...

Could a dusty rock hurtling through space hold the recipe for life? NASA’s latest analysis of asteroid Bennu’s pristine samples suggests that it just might. In a breakthrough that has electrified ...

Now that scientists understand the role of RNA glycosylation in deflecting immune system attention, they can check on whether that strategy is somehow going awry (Photo courtesy of imageBROKER/Juergen ...

Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) in Würzburg have identified a protein and a group of small ribonucleic acids ...

The reed leafhopper (Pentastiridius leporinus) was originally a specialist, limited exclusively to reed grass as a food source. Within a few years, however, it developed into a dangerous pest that ...

Sunburn has traditionally been attributed to UV-induced DNA damage. However, a new study reveals that RNA, another vital cellular molecule, plays a major role in triggering acute sunburn reactions.

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 ...