Shelly Fan

When scientists discovered permafrost ice caps on Mars’ north pole in 1976, the news immediately sparked speculation about potential life on the red planet. The later discovery of exposed ice on the south pole further teased the idea.

“We’re only just beginning to understand the full majesty of life on Earth,” wrote the founding members of the Earth BioGenome Project in 2018. The ambitious project raised eyebrows when first announced. It seeks to genetically profile over a million plants, animals, and fungi. Documenting these genomes is the first step to building an atlas of complex life on Earth.

When I was a young kid, our neighborhood didn’t have any grocery stores. The only place to buy fruits and vegetables was at our local farmer’s market. My mom would pick out the freshest tomatoes and sauté them with eggs into a simple dish that became my comfort food.

Rather than training the algorithm on content scraped from the internet, scientists trained the AI on nearly three million genomes.

A new study comparing neurons from different primates pinpointed several genetic changes unique to humans.

“Open” AI models have a lot to give. The practice of sharing source code with the public spurs innovation and democratizes AI as a tool.

Thousands of new genes are hidden inside the “dark matter” of our genome.

Brain aging occurs in distinctive phases. Its trajectory could be hidden in our blood—paving the way for early diagnosis and intervention.

With a single shot, scientists protected pregnant mice from a deadly complication called pre-eclampsia. The shot, inspired by mRNA vaccines, contains mRNA instructions to make a protein that reverses damage to the placenta—which occurs in the condition—protecting both mother and growing fetus.

Centenarians don’t just live longer. They’re also healthier, even in extreme old age. A biobank of centenarian stem cells could help scientists explain why.