Nucleic acids

Scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine at noon Monday.

According to a statement from the committee that awarded the Nobel, the prize is given for the discovery of microRNA and its role in gene regulation.

Scientists have found uracil, one of the key building blocks for RNA, on the 200 million-mile-distant asteroid Ryugu

In a major step toward creating artificial life, U.S. researchers have developed a living organism that incorporates both natural and artificial DNA and is capable of creating entirely new, synthetic proteins, Reuters reports.

The work, published in the journal Nature, brings scientists closer to the development of designer proteins made to order in a laboratory.

Last March, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after spending nearly one year in space. During his 340 days aboard the International Space Station, or ISS, scientists were also observing Scott’s identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, while he hung out on Earth.

Do you remember the sci-fi movie GATACA with the title formed from the known bases of any DNA sequence in nature (A, T, C, G)? Well, be ready to change that as scientists have created two more synthetic bases, X, Y. And that’s not all, since this was announced as back as 2014.

A total of 4000 people gathered on the southern beach in the Bulgarian city of Varna on Saturday, setting a Guinness World Record for the largest human DNA helix.