dna illustration

A Primer on e-DNA

eDNA is DNA that an animal sloughs off into its environment through feces, shedding, or lost skin. The technology can detect invasive species.
Forensic evidence

How Forensic DNA Evidence Can Lead to Wrongful Convictions

Forensic DNA evidence has been a game-changer for law enforcement, but research shows it can contribute to miscarriages of justice.
DNA Strand

Using DNA As a Memory Drive

Scientists have successfully encoded a simple movie in bacteria DNA, and played it back. Using DNA for data storage is not as crazy as it sounds...
DNA genetic analysis results

A New Kind of DNA Evidence

Should familial DNA be used in forensic investigations? How it works -- and some of the potential problems with the practice.
Francis Crick

How Francis Crick Almost Didn’t Make His Huge DNA Discovery

British biologist Francis Crick co-published a paper on the helical structure of DNA some fifty years ago. He followed a convoluted route to this discovery.
Close-up of mitochondria

Who Needs Mitochondria Anyway?

Mitochondria was once thought to be an integral part of all complex organisms. Then this organism was discovered.
DNA double helix

DNA Law and Order: Logging Edition

Illegal logging is pervasive across the globe, occurring anywhere there are exploitable forests. The resulting timber is illicitly traded and ...
Microscope view of bacteria

She Has Your Eyes. And Your Gut Bacteria’s Genome!

Upending our entire understanding of inheritance, an infant can apparently inherit genes directly from her mother’s bacteria.