Cellular & Microscopic Biology

Phone calls, e-mails, sign language, friendly shouts -- this is how we communicate in our daily lives. Bacteria, some of the tiniest organisms on Earth, have a different way of talking.

By Molly Edmonds

For something too small to be detected by an ordinary microscope, viruses pack a big punch. We all know they can wreak havoc on the body, but how do they do it?

By Molly Edmonds

Cell suicide sounds unpleasant, but this programmed cell death is the reason your fingers and toes are no longer webbed. What's the story behind apoptosis, and what does it have to do with curing disease?

By Molly Edmonds

If you've kept up with the news lately, you've probably heard dire warnings about avian flu, or bird flu. In this article, we'll review the basics of how viruses and influenza work, and we'll learn the answers to these and other questions about avian flu, including whether it is likely to cause a global flu epidemic.

By Tracy V. Wilson

Hand sanitizers can only get you so far in preventing a viral infection. Scientists are discovering how visible light can be used to destroy viruses. Learn about the laser technique and what it means for the future.

By Jacob Silverman & Patrick J. Kiger

You may be familiar with the medieval "Black Plague," but did you know that bouts of plague still break out today? Find out what causes an outbreak, why plague still exists and how the plague has influenced history.

By Tracy V. Wilson & Alia Hoyt

While most flu sufferers moan and groan for about a week and then return to work, the flu season creates more than just discomfort and a costly loss of work days.

By Stephanie Watson

We hear about them on the news and we listen to politicians argue for and against them using them to treat disease. Learn all about stem cells and the research, challenges and controversy that surround them.

By Stephanie Watson & Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

The human body is composed of about 10 trillion cells. Everything from reproduction to infections to repairing a broken bone happens down at the cellular level. Find out all about cells.

By Marshall Brain

Bacteria are both friend and foe to humanity. They cause and cure health problems, make rotting food stink and give sourdough its delicious taste. Find out how these countless tiny microbes accomplish all of this and more.

By Marianne Spoon

Your body replaces billions (with a b!) of cells every day. In about 100 days, 30 trillion be replaced, but does that mean you're a new person, too?

By Chris Opfer & Allison Troutner

Viruses, viroids and prions are microscopic, infectious particles with a common, despicable goal - but the way each goes about achieving that goal is different.

By Debra Ronca

Yep, fungi are all around us - in the grocery store, in the woods or living on your discolored toenail. And fungi can break down almost anything.

By Jesslyn Shields

No life, except possibly very small bacteria, would exist on Earth without photosynthesis.

By Jesslyn Shields

Chloroplasts are where some of the most miraculous chemistry on Earth goes down.

By Jesslyn Shields

Prokaryotic cells are like single-room efficiency apartments while eukaryotic cells are like mansions with many rooms - and they are the only two kinds of cells in the world.

By Jesslyn Shields

The part of your cells that helps you recover from a hangover is shaped like a maze of tubes and is made of two parts - the rough endoplasmic reticulum and the smooth endoplasmic reticulum.

By Jesslyn Shields & Yara Simón

Centrioles are spindles that create the pathways for chromosomes to follow during cell division.

By Jesslyn Shields

The mass of microorganisms swarming inside your favorite elite athlete's body may be a great business opportunity.

By Amanda Onion

While plant and animal cells are strikingly similar, there are a few key differences.

By Jesslyn Shields & Austin Henderson

When an electron loses its partner, it creates a free radical. So is that free radical now potentially hazardous to your health?

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

You probably use the words mold and mildew interchangeably. But these two types of fungi aren't quite the same. Is one worse?

By Patty Rasmussen

It's all connected! Recent rodent research suggests that immune responses and social behavior may be more intertwined than we realized.

By Julia Layton

Dust traveling over the Atlantic from North Africa feeds both phytoplankton that makes the oxygen we breath and the bacteria that could kill us.

By Jesslyn Shields

Researchers are calling for a new "Noah's Ark" to store microbes that might one day be valuable.

By Chris Opfer