This image depicts the chemical structure of cytosine. It shows a hexagonal ring with nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3, and a primary amine group attached to carbon 4. The two remaining positions ...

Nucleic acids are complex biological molecules that store and transmit genetic information in all living organisms. They are essential for the survival and reproduction of life on Earth. The two main ...

For James Watson, DNA was everything — not just his life's work, but the secret of life itself. Over his long and storied career, Watson arguably did more than any other scientist to transform a ...

Studying how single DNA molecules behave helps us to better understand genetic disorders and design better drugs. Until now however, examining DNA molecules one-by-one was a slow process.

His decoding of the blueprint for life with Francis H.C. Crick made him one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. He wrote a celebrated memoir and later ignited an uproar with racist ...

Tiny tweaks in DNA folding can have big effects. A study from Umeå University shows that even the most subtle changes in DNA's shape have an important influence on gene activity and energy production.

“The laws of inheritance are quite unknown,” Charles Darwin acknowledged in 1859. The discovery of DNA’s shape altered how we conceived of life itself. The X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin ...

James D. Watson, whose role as co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953 made him one of the key figures in the rise of molecular biology as well as the obvious choice to be first ...