English, Cutting-edge science
Laying bare our genetic blueprint
By Louisa Wood, European Bioinformatics Institute
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What does the majority of our DNA do? Hundreds of scientists have spent years examining these ‘junk’ sequences, which may hold the key to serious diseases – and much more. |
Cracking the mystery of how our planet formed
By Jérôme Ganne and Vincent de Andrade
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Studying the chemical composition of some of the planet’s oldest rocks has revolutionised our understanding of how our continents formed. |
Magnetic science: developing a new surfactant
By Julian Eastoe, Paul Brown, Isabelle Grillo and Tim Harrison
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With the use of detergents and other surfactants on the rise, the resulting pollution is worrying. One answer: surfactants that can be collected and re-used simply by switching a magnetic field on and off. |
The numbers game: extending the periodic table
By Oli Usher
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Until a few centuries ago, people believed that the world was made only of earth, air, water and fire. Since then, scientists have discovered 118 elements and the search is on for element 119. |
Sloppy fishing: why meiosis goes wrong
By Sonia Furtado Neves, EMBL
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Why does meiosis so often go wrong? And what are the consequences?. |
Seeing the light: monitoring fusion experiments
By Phil Dooley, EFDA-JET
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Finding out what is going on in the core of a fusion experiment at 100 million degrees Celsius is no easy matter, but there are clever ways to work it out. |
Behind the autism spectrum
By Andreas Chiocchetti
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Research into the genetics of the autism spectrum is increasing our understanding of these conditions, and may lead to better ways to diagnose and manage them. |
On your bike: how muscles respond to exercise
By Maléne Lindholm and Susanna Wallman Appel
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We all know that exercise makes us fitter and healthier – but what changes take place in our cells to make this happen? |
Exploding chromosomes: how cancer begins
By Sonia Furtado Neves, EMBL
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Brain tumours are one of the most common causes of death in children – and may begin when chromosomes are torn apart during cell division. |
Revealing the secrets of permafrost
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Studying permafrost enables us to look not only into the past, but also into the future. Miguel Ángel de Pablo, Miguel Ramos, Gonçalo Vieira and Antonio Molina explain. |
