Cells modify their internal spacing to improve biochemical reaction efficiencies

Take a 360-degree look at biochemical activity from within a human cell

In this tour, users can observe the dynamic processes that occur within the basic units of the human body, including the production and transport of proteins and the assembly and disassembly of microtubules—thin, cylindrical structures that provide structural support and a means of moving material within the cell.

Watch how DNA is packaged to a 10,000th of its original size in a cell

In humans, the 2-meter (6.56-foot) molecule wraps around spool-like proteins called histones, forming beads—nucleosomes—that fold up into fibers. These fibers—chromatin—form loops through folding that compress into larger fibers, which tightly coil together to form a chromosome.

The secret lives of cells

Cutting-edge microscopy has revealed previously unseen interactions of biological molecules within their cellular environment, enabling scientists to observe and analyze the molecules in a holistic view. This podcast explains the minute advancements made over the last few decades in observing cells, revealing how scientists have come and what the future holds for the field.

Single-cell organisms have circadian clocks that direct daily biochemical routines

Cyanobacteria, a type of light-sensitive bacteria, use this clock to signal when to alternate between making organic compounds through photosynthesis and when to convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable ammonia. Upregulating photosynthetic machinery before dawn helps ensure efficient photosynthesis.

In 2026, researchers at the University of Minnesota created the world's first synthetic cell—a cell made from non-living chemical components—that can eat, grow, divide, and compete with other cells for resources.

The mass of a cell can be measured using hollow, vibrating beams

In 2010, scientists at MIT constructed a U-shaped device that vibrates like a guitar string with an internal fluid channel. As cells and bacteria pass through the device, its rate of vibration shifts, with greater mass creating larger shifts.

Model organisms like yeast, mice, and flies help scientists decode the human body

Some species are used to quickly study the effects of human diseases and treatments because they are short-lived and have similar systems to those found in humans. Bacteria, like E. coli, have been used as human proxies given their rapid growth and ease of genetic manipulability.

Cells cannot grow forever due to escalating inefficiency in transporting chemicals

As cells get larger, their volume grows much faster than the surface area through which nutrients and waste products pass, creating a bottleneck that eventually causes cells to die. This forces nearly all organisms visible to the naked eye to comprise enormous numbers of smaller cells, such as the approximately 30 trillion found in the average adult human.

Explore how cells respond to signals from their environment

In "Dropping Signals," users can drag stimuli, such as hormones and light, into various cellular environments to observe cellular responses. These include changing their shape, enabling the transport of chemicals into or out of the cell via the cell membrane, or dividing to compensate for surrounding damaged cells.

Scientists can tag distinct proteins with fluorescent probes that emit different colors, allowing them to visualize multiple biochemical processes simultaneously.

How MIT researchers have used genetic mutations to improve photosynthesis efficiency

Recognizing that RuBisCO—a protein that binds carbon dioxide to other compounds to produce the building blocks of organic molecules—often mistakenly binds oxygen, scientists performed directed evolution experiments to modify the geometry of a bacterial version of the protein to cause it to preferentially interact with carbon dioxide over oxygen.

Some organisms are composed of a single cell visible to the naked eye

By incorporating tough, cellulose-rich cell walls, rapid movement of molecules via cytoplasmic streaming, and other biological techniques, some unicellular organisms can bypass the physical limitations that restrict the size of cells. Organisms such as the Stentor coeruleus and Acetabularia can be seen without microscopes.

Synthetic biology transforms cells into custom DNA foundries

At companies like Ginkgo Bioworks, researchers are reprogramming cells to act as workshops that can create custom molecules, such as medicines and fertilizers, by stitching together DNA sequences—often in novel combinations—before inserting them into an organism's genome.

Genetic engineering has accelerated millennia of altering various crops' genes

Although farmers have long cross-bred crops to obtain plants with specific colors, sizes, and other characteristics, these processes took significant time. Today, genetic modification in agriculture involves scientists altering an organism's DNA for various purposes, including enhancing pathogen resistance, removing allergens, and delaying spoilage.

While most cells possess DNA, red blood cells destroy their nuclei to maximize the amount of oxygen they carry and more easily alter their shape to fit through narrow blood capillaries.

How 3D printing inside cells paves the way for microscopic machines

In 2026, scientists in Slovenia developed a method to 3D print a small elephant, several microscopic geometric objects, and barcodes for cell labeling within living human cells, which continued to grow and divide thereafter. The experiment opens the door to fabricating devices within cells to study and manipulate cellular functions.

Scientists have created a cell from scratch—called a SpudCell—proof-of-concept work that a lab-made cell can feed, grow, and replicate like a natural cell.

Bacteria use chemical signals to communicate and coordinate with one another

Through a system called quorum sensing, bacteria produce and absorb compounds from their environment to identify allies or competitors and adjust their behavior accordingly. Some bacteria produce food-digesting enzymes only in the presence of similar bacteria, thereby preventing competitors from consuming their meal.

Cells translate genetic information into proteins using RNA messengers

Genes are segments of DNA, each composed of a sequence of nitrogenous bases. Within the nucleus, these sequences are copied into a single strand of ribonucleic acid during transcription. This strand leaves the nucleus and is translated by ribosomes into a chain of amino acids that folds into a functional protein.

Explore the abundance of different types of cells in the human body

Lacking a nucleus and other organelles to maximize space for oxygen-carrying hemoglobin and enhance maneuverability through narrow capillaries, there are about four times as many red blood cells and platelets as all other cell types in the body combined. However, about half of the body's cell biomass consists of skeletal myocytes, or muscle fibers.

Different enzymes can be used in the CRISPR system to modify how DNA is cut

The system uses RNA sequences to guide enzymes like Cas9 to specific spots in DNA, where they cut or modify genes. Unlike Cas9, the Cpf1 enzyme makes staggered cuts, which helps insert new DNA more cleanly.

Recombinant DNA technology turns microorganisms into protein factories

Genes for molecules such as insulin can be inserted into loops of bacterial DNA called plasmids and reinserted into bacteria. Once placed in fermentation tanks, these bacteria use the gene to produce these molecules, which are then harvested and purified for eventual use.

Adhesion molecules and intercellular junctions allow cells to connect together

While some organic structures are mostly composed of non-cellular components (e.g., collagen and calcium phosphate minerals in bones), tissues and organs composed of connected cells rely on specialized proteins and connections to create watertight seals that protect cells within the interior from environmental molecules.

Peptides may have predated ribosomes—the cell's protein factory

Some scientists have hypothesized that peptides and RNA molecules may have coevolved as a single, mixed "chimeric" molecule, fueling the beginning of protein production and predating a primitive version of the ribosome. All life today uses ribosomes to make peptides. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

An estimated 1% of DNA mutations in bacteria can produce more dangerous strains

Researchers have developed a technique to monitor these mutations in real time. Using this technology, scientists found that mutations occur at a steady rate, with 1% leading to potentially deadly changes.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Changing a single letter in DNA can permanently alter an organism

Genetic mutations occur when cells replicate, which requires a copy of DNA to be created, and involve substituting, deleting, or inserting letters in a cell's genetic code. Mutations can be caused by normal cellular processes, chemical exposure (e.g., carcinogens), or radiation and may result in genetic disorders or genetic variations that drive evolution.

See how a novel gene editing technique called base editing can create changes in a single DNA base, using a more precise targeting approach than CRISPR-Cas9.

CRISPR can't fix faulty mitochondria

Gene editing via CRISPR could theoretically fix many issues in biology, but editing the mitochondrial genome has remained challenging. In recent years, there has been some progress reaching these cellular powerhouses. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

CRISPR allows scientists to cut out and replace faulty or unwanted DNA, which can help treat genetic disorders, such as sickle cell disease, and create genetically modified organisms, such as allergen-free foods.

Cells create more organelles and duplicate their genetic material before dividing

As part of the cell cycle, this ensures that after mitosis—the process of cell division—the two resulting daughter cells possess the tools necessary to complete the functions of their parent cell, including accumulating energy and making proteins. During meiosis, four egg or sperm cells are created, each with half the parent cell's DNA.

Cells are categorized by the presence of contained genetic material and other organelles

While prokaryotes contain one or more cells with free-floating genetic material in a region called the nucleoid, eukaryotes possess a nucleus specialized for DNA storage. Plant cells possess cell walls—a reinforced structure surrounding their membrane—made of cellulose, while fungal cell walls contain chitin. Animal cells have lysosomes housing enzymes that break down biomolecules. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Why the abundance of RuBisCO in photosynthetic cells may come from its inefficiency

Despite pulling about 115 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to build organic molecules each year, the enzyme instead binds oxygen at least one in five times, needlessly costing cells energy. To compensate for this and its processing of no more than 10 molecules per second—versus thousands processed by a typical enzyme—it's become the most abundant enzyme on Earth.

Watch how proteins are created from DNA

When a DNA sequence—a gene—is activated, a copy of the activated portion is created in the form of RNA, a single-stranded version of DNA, in a process known as transcription. This RNA, called messenger RNA, leaves the nucleus and travels to a ribosome, a structure within a cell, which uses it to build a chain of organic compounds that fold into a protein.

What is a cell? A great quick overview.

YourGenome.org furnishes a collection of information on cells and how they work. Every body has trillions of cells, each serving a specific function: making proteins, processing chemicals, and creating energy. Every cell contains a genome, a set of instructions for the cell's function. Brush up on your cells for a better grasp on genetics.

CRISPR-Cas9 enables precise genome editing using a simple RNA-guided system

Jennifer Doudna's research uncovered how bacteria use the tool as an immune defense by cutting viral DNA. She and Emmanuelle Charpentier received the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for showing how this mechanism could be engineered to target and edit genes in living cells.

Gut bacteria are evolving and can acquire as many as 100 new genes per year, on average.

Metabolism, a collection of chemical reactions at the cellular level, processes food and converts it into energy to power the body.

A deeper (nontechnical) dive into how CRISPR works

Extra crispy? No, it's CRISPR, but this gene-editing technology is "extra" in the sense of being momentous and destined to change everything. Through CRISPR, scientist exploit a quirk in bacteria immune systems, allowing them to potentially, and quickly, control genes, remove undesirable traits, and add preferred ones. The possibilities and applications are endless.

Breaking down the challenges of alkaline environments and how extremophiles survive them

These areas are far less acidic than the interiors of most organisms' cells, and this imbalance draws protons that are needed for various metabolic processes, including energy production, out of cells. To counter these effects, some alkaliphiles have developed stronger proton regulation across their cellular membranes and proteins that drive these processes with greater stability amid such acidity imbalances.

While humans have been genetically modifying plants for millennia by selectively breeding organisms with certain traits, gene-editing tools like CRISPR have further enhanced plants, conferring resistance to drought, pests, and diseases.

Gene therapy can occur inside the body, but it can also be completed outside the body—with scientists treating cells in the lab, and then those corrected cells are transplanted back into the body.

Explore what each organelle does within various types of cells

In "Cell Anatomy Viewer," users can explore interactive illustrations of animal, plant, fungal, and bacterial cells. Clicking on an organelle, such as a lysosome, the nucleolus, or the Golgi complex, provides descriptions of its characteristics and functions.

Advances in agriculture are being powered by CRISPR to boost carbon capture

Researchers are using CRISPR to test thousands of plant gene edits, aiming to speed up breeding and maximize carbon retention in soil. By engineering drought tolerance, they also aim to increase crop yields and expand the environments where crops can grow.

Some organelles are believed to have once been independent cells

Mitochondria and chloroplasts, which are both responsible for energy production in cells, have DNA distinct from that of their host cells and are surrounded by cellular membranes resembling those of bacteria. Through symbiogenesis, these and other specialized structures were absorbed into larger cells, forming the modern-day biological units.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get.

Microgravity can alter the evolution of viruses and bacteria

Experiments conducted on the International Space Station have shown that microgravity environments can delay viral and bacterial infections and induce mutations not seen on Earth. These mutations could have implications for long-term space missions and human health and suggest space can serve as a testing ground for developing new therapeutic approaches.

There are five key mechanisms—small population size, nonrandom mating, mutation, gene flow, and natural selection—that drive evolution, or the change in the abundance of specific genetic traits found within a population.

Watch DNA replicate itself before cell division

In the average adult human, between 50 billion and 70 billion cells die daily, requiring them to replicate their genetic instructions before dividing into new cells. This process relies on various proteins to unwind, read, build, and proofread new strands, with error rates of fewer than one per 1 billion nucleotides.