The Dangers of Mirrored Life

Creating mirrored organisms using synthetic biology could seriously harm extant life, a 300-page report claims. While the risks from mirrored life are uncertain, it is best not to find out.

Pandemic Prevention Mini-Issue

Measuring the Black Death

Reports suggest that between 40 and 60 percent of the population died during the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the mid-1300s. What accounts for this wide range of estimates?

Pandemic Prevention Mini-Issue

Editor's Note

Announcing a special mini-issue devoted to biotechnology's role in pandemic prevention.

Meet the Flower Designer Who Built a Laboratory In His Home

Sebastian Cocioba, a vocal advocate for amateur science, built a home laboratory from spare parts and second-hand machines purchased on eBay.

Inside the Laboratory for Extraordinary Microbes

Cultivarium, a small nonprofit, is building tools to grow and engineer peculiar organisms—and then giving their discoveries away for free.

What Limits a Genome’s Size?

A tiny fern has a genome 50 times larger than a human’s. Energy and diffusion—not the nucleus volume—are the key bottlenecks to more expansive growth.

Raising Welfare for Lab Rodents

The science of animal welfare is exploding, offering new ways to improve conditions for millions of research animals a year.