Microorganisms seem to have found a home nearly everywhere on the planet, including the insides of animals. The skin, gastrointestinal tracts, lungs, and mouths of humans have been colonized by ...

For successful cell division, chromosomal DNA needs to be packed into compact rod-shaped structures. Defects in this process can lead to cell death or diseases like cancer. A new study has shown how ...

Nucleotide synthesis—the production of the basic components of DNA and RNA—is essential for cell growth and division. In most ...

Every day, our bodies perform around 330 billion cell divisions to keep us alive and functioning. These divisions rely on the cell cycle, which has been in place since the earliest bacteria. The ...

Before a cell commits fully to the process of dividing itself into two new cells, it may ensure the appropriateness of its commitment by staying for many hours -- sometimes more than a day -- in a ...

One of biology’s great mysteries is how a single fertilised egg can generate millions of cells that together make up a human body, while simultaneously restricting growth to prevent lethal diseases ...