During nutritional adaptation, transcriptional activation in yeast produces noncoding RNAs that allow the formation of a positive-feedback regulatory loop.

A new nucleosome-occupancy technique reveals how the transcriptional activator Gal4 determines chromatin structure as genes are activated and repressed.

Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity. A novel integrated framework to assess vulnerability and prioritize research and management action aims to improve our ability to respond to this emerging crisis.

Neural long-range interactions can be distinguished from hemodynamic confounds in functional magnetic resonance imaging using new data analysis techniques that will allow experimental validation of models of brain function.

The persistent activity of a brain enzyme, PKMζ, stores specific associations, both unpleasant and rewarding, for places, events, and actions, and is thus a general mechanism for memory storage.

Wolbachia are one of the most widespread intracellular bacteria. In Drosophila melanogaster, the presence of Wolbachia increases resistance to infection by RNA viruses.

Marriage between first cousins is highly stigmatized in the West and, indeed, is illegal in 31 US states. But is the hostility to such marriage scientifically well-grounded?

We investigated tissue-specific genetic control of gene expression and alternative splicing in primary human cells, and we describe here the implications for understanding how genetic variation influences human disease.

Evelyn Fox Keller introduces a new series that aims to promote productive dialogue between laboratory researchers and historians and philosophers of science to address the challenges arising from the rapid pace of biological discovery.

The ability of hosts to withstand a given number of pathogens is a critical component of health. Now playing catch-up with plant biologists, animal biologists are starting to formally separate this form of defense from classical resistance.

When errors in messenger RNA processing or packaging occur along the path from the site of transcription to the nuclear pore complex, the conserved RNA-degrading enzyme Swt1 comes into the game.

Epithelial cell shape, tubule convolution, and segment boundary position along the kidney nephron unexpectedly involve the migration of fully differentiated epithelial cells against the flow of lumenal fluid.

Once you're in love, it gets trickier to sniff out anyone who might compete with the current object of your affections

You might think fish are unaffected by winds and storms, but in fact what ends up on our dinner plates today depends on what the weather was like a few years ago

The odour of disease causes pregnant mice to boost their babies' immunity – it is the first proof that environmental cues detected by a pregnant mother can alter traits in her young

The sharpest infrared picture yet taken of the roiling furnace at the galaxy's centre reveals a new population of massive stars

A bizarre-looking yet ignored species of land iguana might be one of the earliest examples of species diversification in the Galapagos

TV presenter asks why so many children get turned off science at school – and what we can do to rekindle their excitement

Borrowing a trick used to steer cars without effort could make robotic exoskeletons more reliable and easier to use, a patent application claims

Newts aren't normally fazed by having their tails chopped off – they just grow a new one – but microgravity plays havoc with the process