Many viruses, including that perennial winter affliction, the influenza virus, are protected by a lipid membrane on loan from the host cell. The fusion proteins on the surface of the membrane are ...

The origin of eukaryotes is considered one of the greatest enigmas in biology: according to current doctrine, two prokaryotes, a so-called Asgard archaeon and a bacterium, are believed to have merged.

Scientists have identified tubulin structures in primitive Asgard archea that may have been the precursor of our own cellular ...

To investigate the effects of mesoscale eddies on prokaryotic assemblage structure and activity, we sampled two cyclonic eddies (CEs) and two anticyclonic eddies (AEs) in the permanent eddy-field ...

Prokaryotic cells, which include all bacteria and archaea, are ancient, and relatively simple compared to eukaryotic cells, which are found in fungi, plants, and animals. Scientists have long sought ...

A new study challenges a popular scenario put forward to explain the arrival of the first eukaryotic organisms. In the beginning, there was boredom. Following the emergence of cellular life on earth, ...

Membraneless organelles, also called biomolecular condensates, are changing how scientists think about protein chemistry, various diseases and even the origin of life. When you purchase through links ...

Eukaryotes—fungi, plants, us—are complex. Our large cells are characterized by their different compartments, many of which are neatly enclosed within a boundary of membrane. These compartments contain ...

The degree of hierarchical structure of organisms-the number of levels of nesting of lower-level entities within higher-level individuals-has apparently increased a number of times in the history of ...