In the tiny world of the cell, segments of DNA called transposons copy and reinsert themselves into the DNA. They eventually produce large repetitive sequences that have for many years been considered useless "junk" or remnants of ancient viral infections. But a new study has uncovered an important function for transposons.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Since there could be neither a chicken nor an egg without each already existing in a fully functional state, they both had to have been put in place at the same time. But there are many interdependent parts in the chicken system, and new research has uncovered one of the tiniest--yet most vital--of them.

Genes are portions of DNA that contain just the right codes to specify proteins, which make everything in cells work. But how does the cell know which protein should be manufactured, how often, how much, or how fast? If it doesn't get these right, then cellular disaster results.

Moths can see very well, even at night, and their eyes have a special built-in anti-glare feature so that reflected light does not alert predators to their presence. Engineers are interested in copying these anti-glare design principles, which could revolutionize whole industries with glare-free displays.

A hundred and fifty years ago, most biologists believed that cells were "simple" blobs of protoplasm. This made Darwinian evolution easier to accept, since all nature would have to do to make a new creature is accidentally adjust a collection of rudimentary parts from an old one.