RNA hit prime time during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the average American waiting in line for their shot knew that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were made using mRNA. But while RNA ...

In his new book, “The Catalyst,” Dr. Thomas Cech describes how mRNA in the COVID vaccines encodes the virus’s spike protein. The following is an excerpt from The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock ...

Oceans churned with lava. Air filled thick with smoke. Asteroids stormed down incessantly. Life during the Hadean Eon four billion years ago was a struggle, and yet that was when it began. 1,2 With no ...

Although there are striking differences between the cells that make up your eyes, kidneys, brain and toes, the DNA blueprint for these cells is essentially the same. Where do those differences come ...

A forested hill and clouds are in the background of an image of a shallow pool of steaming water, with the ground underneath colored in shades of beige, red, and brown. Life may have first emerged in ...

Cells contain a blueprint in the form of DNA that dictates what they can make. This blueprint is converted into a message, or mRNA, which is then converted into protein. Although DNA remains the same ...

Despite being made from a relatively simple set of building blocks, ribonucleic acid (RNA) has a broad array of complex responsibilities. From providing structure to carrying the instructions for ...

Life on Earth may have started with a molecule that still runs our cells today. As researchers probe ribonucleic acid in the lab and in ancient rocks and space dust, RNA is yielding clues that are far ...

While the COVID-19 vaccines introduced many people to RNA-based medicines, RNA oligonucleotides have already been on the market for years to treat diseases like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and ...