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T861Y1 CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing complex, illustration

The high cost of CRISPR therapy will stop it getting to most patients

5 July 2023

The world’s first CRISPR therapy may be approved soon, but sadly it is unlikely to be affordable for hundreds of thousands of people whose pain it could end

MORCAMBE, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 22: Despite inclement weather pensioners raise a happy smile as they perform the famously British dance of comedians Morcambe and Wise next to a statue of Eric Morcambe, at Morcambe Bayon June 22, 2006, in Morcambe, England. Confidence & Happiness specialist, Scientist Cliff Arnall from the University of Cardiff has identified June 23, 2006 as being the happiest day of the year. His calculations were based on outdoor activity, nature, social interaction, childhood summers, positive memories, temperature and holidays. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Ageing is inevitable, but we may soon treat it like any other disease

10 May 2023

Getting older is a fact of life, but there are promising signs that we may be able to intervene to slow – and possibly even stop – the molecular processes that lead to numerous age-related conditions

Computer made of DNA works out prime factors of 6 and 15

31 March 2023

Simple calculations, such as factoring low numbers, can be made by mixing together differently shaped strands of DNA

3D abstract dna strands with shine light; Shutterstock ID 1792371352; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

Genome technology is transforming healthcare but what should we allow?

15 March 2023

From mice with two fathers to cures for debilitating diseases, the transformative power of genomic technology requires some big decisions on what we want to do with it

Parasitic DNA makes us age faster - but we're not sure why

21 December 2022

Genetic parasites called retrotransposons become more active as we age, and an animal study suggests this may trigger immune responses that shorten our lifespans

Visualizing inferred human ancestral lineages over time and space. Each line represents an ancestor-descendant relationship in our inferred genealogy of modern and ancient genomes. The width of a line corresponds to how many times the relationship is observed, and lines are colored on the basis of the estimated age of the ancestor.

A family tree of humanity released in 2022 shows how we're all related

14 December 2022

Researchers unveiled a picture of humanity’s genealogy based on 3601 modern genomes and eight ancient genomes going back 2 million years

Genetically engineered Escherichia coli is involved in the growth of many chemicals and drugs, such as insulin, but unmodified versions of the bacteria can be infected by viruses

E. coli that is recoded to be virus resistant may aid drug production

4 August 2022

Changing Escherichia coli's genetic code may enable the recoded bacterium to be grown in large vats for drug production, without the risk of a viral infection upending the process

Spinning rotors made from DNA could power minuscule machines

20 July 2022

Building devices at the nanoscale is difficult because small molecules move about randomly, but now researchers have made a working rotor using DNA

Risk of heart failure may increase with age due to Y chromosome loss

14 July 2022

The Y chromosome, involved in sex determination, mysteriously disappears from some men’s immune cells as they get older – and that could be fatal

Tiny nanoturbine is an autonomous machine smaller than most bacteria

28 June 2022

A turbine only a few dozen nanometres in size built from DNA rotates in salty water without having to be pushed, which makes it a tiny autonomous machine. It could be used to speed up chemical reactions or transport particles inside cells