For decades, scientists have believed that complex life began when two very different microbes joined forces, eventually ...

Biology has always been an unruly science. Cells divide when they want to. Genes switch on and off like temperamental lights. Experiments typically yield averages, not clear-cut figures. To a ...

As 2025 comes to a close, the editors at The Scientist asked researchers to reflect on the biggest breakthroughs in cell biology this year. They named advances in everything from embryo models for ...

Many spatial biology researchers rely on two-dimensional tools, which section the cellular architecture and processes occurring within 3D tissues into flat layers. Three-dimensional multiomic analysis ...

Japanese researchers uncovered a universal rule describing why life’s growth slows despite abundant nutrients. Their “global constraint principle” integrates classic biological laws to show that ...

For nearly a century, biologists have relied on a simple rule to predict how microbes grow when food is scarce, a rule that quietly shaped everything from wastewater treatment plants to vaccine ...