cells

All living organisms on Earth are made up of living cells. All cells fall into one of the two major ...

Genetic modification is back on the political agenda in Aotearoa New Zealand. The issue may not be as hotly contentious as it once was, but big ...

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural process that occurs in cells where small RNA molecules ‘silence’ or decrease the activity of specific genes by preventing them ...

RNA interference is both a natural process and a novel biotechnology tool in which small RNA molecules ‘silence’ or decrease the activity of specific genes by ...

Antonia Hoeta is part of The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka – an innovative, hands-on education programme that uses te ao Māori perspectives to build ...

The Science of Medicines – Whakatere Waka is an innovative, hands-on education programme that uses te ao Māori perspectives to build conversations and confidence around medicines. ...

Antimicrobial resistance has been named by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. Antimicrobial-resistant infections are estimated ...

Infectious diseases have been a feature of life and death throughout history. Humans have been treating infections for millennia, including use of materials with antimicrobial properties ...

Extremophilic microorganisms are called extremophiles and live in environments considered hostile to most forms of life. Scientists have only discovered life in these extreme environments in ...

What are extremophilic microorganisms? Let’s start by looking closer at microorganisms. All the organisms we know about on Earth are either cellular (by far the majority) ...

Florence Nightingale, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly famed for revolutionising nursing. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) was a social reformer and statistician and is regarded ...

There are many different viruses. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in birds and mammals. They are all similar in their shape, and ...

Here are some interesting facts about forensics and DNA: New Zealand was the second country in the world to establish a databank of DNA profiles. Find ...

Food’s macronutrients undergo chemical breakdown as they move through the digestive system. Learn more about the digestion process and its hormonal control with these explanations of ...

What makes you, you and me, me? Genes or environment? How we look and act is the result of the interaction of our genes with our ...

Microscopes let us view an invisible world – the objects around us that are too small to be seen with the naked eye. This timeline provides ...

What’s going on inside us when we get sick? What do germs have to do with us getting sick? How does our body help us to ...

Taking a closer look at our world Microscopes let us view an invisible world – the objects around us that are too small to be seen ...

Medical researchers from the UK, the US and Canada have developed a new tool that identifies mutating genes to detect the early stages of oesophageal cancer. ...

In 2014, the World Health Organization announced the results of its first global report on antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance. They say that antibiotic resistance is ...

An international team of researchers has identified the specific gene fault that causes a type of early-onset melanoma that accounts for about 3% of the cases ...

Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia. In New Zealand, it is most commonly associated with gardening activities. Christchurch Hospital now tests every pneumonia patient ...

Television dramas like CSI Bones and Criminal Minds – can create false expectations and impressions of forensic science, especially in the courtroom. Listen to this radio ...

Find out how and why we use bacteria to improve our lives, and discover how the DNA revolution has led to new uses for bacteria. Escherichia ...

By choosing appropriate genes to introduce into bacteria, scientists have developed bacteria with characteristics that are useful to humans – such as the ability to make ...