The Liquid Wall: Where the World Ends and You Begin
The difference between a living organism and a beaker of biochemical soup is surprisingly simple: a boundary.
The Mitochondria Is the Powerhouse of the Cell
If you’ve spent any time on the internet, you’ve seen the joke. Someone asks a biology question and the answer is always, inevitably, without a doubt “mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.” It’s the one biology fact everyone remembers, usually because it was drilled into them so aggressively in school and over the internet that it’s almost impossible to forget. The problem is that’s basically where the explanation stops. Powerhouse of the cell. Great. Thanks. But what does that…
Your DNA Breaks Thousands of Times a Day. Here’s Why You’re Still Alive
Here’s something you probably didn’t learn in biology class: your DNA is being damaged right now. Not occasionally, not under extreme circumstances, but constantly. Across basically every cell in your body, thousands of times a day. Your DNA being damaged is more common and more “voluntary” than blinking or breathing. And yet here you are. Fully intact. Which is actually the interesting part. The Problem With Being Alive Your DNA has a lot of enemies, and the most surprising ones…