The DNA packed inside every human cell contains instructions for life, written in billions of letters of genetic code. Every time a cell divides, the complete code, divided among 46 chromosomes, must ...

Every day, billions of cells in your body divide, helping to replace old and injured cells with new ones. And each time this happens, your entire genetic library—your genome, which totals more than 3 ...

Every time a cell divides, it must copy its DNA with extraordinary precision. But this process is constantly challenged by DNA damage. Among the most dangerous lesions are DNA interstrand crosslinks ...

We tend to think of the DNA strands that contain our genetic code as consistent, stable units. But in reality, the cells that make up our bodies are constantly replicating and changing. Even as you ...

During DNA replication, the unwinding of strands leaves a single strand vulnerable. How does the cell protect these strands from damage? How would you identify the protein that serves as a connector ...

Not all parts of our genetic code are equal, even when they appear to say the same thing. Scientists have discovered that cells can detect less efficient genetic instructions and selectively silence ...

What scientists once dismissed as junk DNA may actually be some of the most powerful code in our genome. A new international study reveals that ancient viral DNA buried in our genes plays an active ...

On a foggy Saturday morning in 1953, a tall, skinny 24-year-old man fiddled with shapes he had cut out of cardboard. They represented fragments of a DNA molecule, and young James Watson was trying to ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Recent breakthroughs in genetics research may have uncovered new genes underlying common psychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia and ...

Scientists have long believed that a universal genetic code serves as a blueprint for all life on Earth, dictating the structure and function of organisms from the simplest bacteria to complex humans.