Biology

The science of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution

Content
Article
Building Toolkits With Biology
By: Luyi Cheng
Nov 26, 2019
Article
Open-Source Underwater
By: Brittany Callan
Jul 22, 2019
Article
Ancient Analogs
By: Valerie Nikolas
Apr 25, 2019
Article
A New Kind of Ice Age
By: Allessandra DiCorato
Aug 2, 2018
Article
Image of sperm and egg
Not All Germ Cells Are Bad: Some Need to Grow for Us to Grow
By: Nisan Hubbard
Jul 9, 2018
Post
Face Blindness in a Nutshell: Putting a Human Face on Prosopagnosia
By: Austin Lim
Apr 23, 2018
Post
DIY Bio: To Hack or Not to Hack?
By: Han Teng Wong
Sep 23, 2017
Article
The Experiment That Shocked the World
By: Andrew Lai
Aug 2, 2017
Post
CRISPR: A Game-Changer in Biomedicine
By: Agnes Laskowski
Mar 23, 2017
Article
The mission? Find and destroy a threatening blood clot.
Cardiovascular Nanotechnology: A Targeted Approach to Keeping Blood Vessels Healthy
By: Rohun Palekar
Mar 13, 2017
Article
The Cybathlon: The Olympics of Restoring Daily Tasks
By: Eric Earley
Mar 1, 2017
Post
Synthetic biology: Engineering or Biology?
By: Han Teng Wong
Feb 14, 2017
Article
NATURE’S MYSTERIES: THE SIXTH SENSE THAT COORDINATES OUR MOVEMENTS
By: Raeed Chowdhury
Jan 25, 2017
Article
Warning, may cause side-effects: Nanoparticles in the environment
By: Carolyn Wilke
Nov 22, 2016
Post
A plant story more magical than Jack and the Beanstalk
By: Kelly Ksiazek-Mikenas
Nov 3, 2016
Article
‘Blueprint’ vaccines: the next-generation in the fight against emerging infections
By: Gina Daniel
Oct 12, 2016
Post
Beyond the Bench: Hosting a Jr Science Café at the Museum of Science & Industry
By: Nisan Hubbard
Oct 7, 2016
Post
Science Writing: I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong
By: Sara Grady
Sep 28, 2016
Article
The changing face of the North Cascades
By: Carolyn Wilke
Sep 22, 2016
Article
This is the yarsta gunbu 'worm' - a mummified caterpillar with protruding stroma of the fungus within. Image via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_sinensis">Wikimedia</a>
Nature's Mysteries: The Miraculous Panacea of the Orient
By: Abha Gosavi
Sep 9, 2016
Article
Diving in the deep end: being a high school researcher at Northwestern
By: Sara Grady
Aug 23, 2016
Post
Miss Muffet, Microbes & Mozzarella
By: Hannah Gavin
Aug 18, 2016
Post
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the bluest of them all?
By: Carolyn Wilke
Jul 21, 2016
Article
Discovering Where Two Paths Cross: A Quest in Protein Functioning
By: Yujia Ding
Jun 14, 2016
Post
Behind the Cellular Scenes
By: Namratha Sastry
Jun 1, 2016
Article
The Name’s Virus, Herpes Virus: Agent 001, The Cunning Invader
By: Laura Ruhge
May 23, 2016
Post
Nature's Mysteries: Frog Freeze & Thaw
By: Carolyn Wilke
Apr 8, 2016
Article
A gold star for cancer research: nanoparticles defend new cancer drugs
By: Kavita Chandra
Mar 3, 2016
Post
Stranded sea lions? Blame toxic algae.
By: Lisa Qu
Feb 11, 2016
Post
Won't You Bee My Neighbor?: Part 2
By: Hannah Gavin
Feb 4, 2016
Post
Unraveling the Code of Life
By: Namratha Sastry
Jan 25, 2016
Article
Vikas Nandwana's image of iron oxide nanoparticles assembling into a honeycomb pattern
Scientific Images Contest fosters collaboration with unlikely partners
By: Morgan Kinney
Dec 14, 2015
Post
When Good Cells Go Bad
By: Namratha Sastry
Oct 26, 2015
Post
The Hibernating Brain
By: Lisa Qu
Oct 21, 2015
Post
Smooth Movements: Treatments for Parkinson's Disease
By: Namratha Sastry
Sep 14, 2015
Post
Surprising Benefits of the Primal Scream
By: Sarah Moore
Sep 2, 2015
Post
Rising Dough
By: Spencer Eanes
Aug 28, 2015
Post
How Do We Change Our Minds?
By: Sarah Moore
Aug 21, 2015
Post
The "Skinny" on Skin Grafting
By: Muskaan Jain
Aug 19, 2015
Post
The Secret Life of Lichens
By: Carolyn Wilke
Aug 13, 2015
Post
Farming Ingenuity: Molding Your Environment to Suit Your Creative Needs
By: Sarah Moore
Aug 5, 2015
Post
Bioluminescence in the Natural World
By: Carolyn Wilke
Jul 1, 2015
Article
Tailoring Your DNA: The Future of Genome Editing
By: Anjali Rao
Jun 29, 2015
Post
Sit. Shake. Sniff.
By: Lisa Qu
Apr 21, 2015
Post
Nature's Tiniest Jet-Setters
By: Suchie Bhattacharyya
Apr 8, 2015
Article
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Taking Control Into Our Own Hands
By: Lauren Geary
Apr 7, 2015
Post
A Reason to Love Bees
By: Anne d'Aquino
Apr 3, 2015
Post
A YouTube Science Education
By: Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
Mar 23, 2015
Article
Dravet Syndrome and the Challenges of Pediatric Epilepsy
By: Bethany Hubbard
Mar 19, 2015
Post
Five Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting Graduate School
By: Nisan Hubbard
Mar 18, 2015
Post
Musicians May Make Better Scientists
By: Nick Griffiths
Mar 3, 2015
Post
Five Sciencey Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day in Chicago
By: Bethany Hubbard
Jan 21, 2015
Post
Zombie Cancer Cells, or Why Scientific Research is Still Incredibly Important
By: Rebecca Daugherty, PhD
Jan 16, 2015
Article
Beyond the Bench: Playing with Science
By: Bethany Hubbard
Nov 20, 2014
Post
The Parenting Switch
By: Rebecca Daugherty, PhD
Oct 6, 2014
Article
Friendly Fire: When Your Immune System Attacks
By: Robert Kuo
Sep 23, 2014
Post
Ethical Conundrums
By: Khyati Meghani
Jul 22, 2014
Article
The 'Gut-Brain Axis' and the Benefits of Bacteria
By: Daniel W. Fisher
Jul 16, 2014
Post
Beyond Pink: Getting Girls Into Science
By: Jessica Slater
Jun 26, 2014
Post
From Peas to Proteome
By: Khyati Meghani
Jun 16, 2014
Article
The Secret Life of Proteins
By: Kathryn Gunn
Jun 3, 2014
Post
Fat That Makes You Thin
By: Elise Walker
May 29, 2014
Post
The Science of Curls
By: Leidamarie Tirado-Lee
May 20, 2014
Post
Let's Talk About Telomeres
By: Bethany Hubbard
Mar 31, 2014
Post
Tell-all DNA!
By: Khyati Meghani
Mar 25, 2014
Post
Who Believes in Science?
By: Jessica Slater
Mar 18, 2014
Article
Public Understanding Key to Vaccine Adoption
By: Koshonna Brown
Feb 11, 2014
Post
Who Should Be a Scientist?
By: Khyati Meghani
Feb 7, 2014
Post
My Brain is Having an OMG Moment
By: Rebecca Daugherty, PhD
Nov 18, 2013
Post
Re-imagining the Rainbow
By: Bethany Hubbard
Oct 24, 2013
Post
Reprogramming Cells In Vivo: The New Era of Regenerative Medicine?
By: Brian Aguado
Sep 30, 2013
Post
Art and Science: Three Blogs You Should Follow
By: Bethany Hubbard
Aug 20, 2013
Post
On Malaria and Mosquitoes
By: Bethany Hubbard
May 16, 2013
Post
Rewiring Plant Genes: And Not a Single Mutant Mammoth in Sight
By: Jennie Walters
May 13, 2013
Post
Science Opens Up
By: Jim Kloet
Mar 13, 2013
Article
DNA Spells Future of Medicine, Genetics Expert Says at Northwestern
By: Lyz Hoffman
Jan 18, 2013
Article
The Power of Photosynthesis
By: Bethany Hubbard
Nov 19, 2012
Article
Decoding Dialects Key to Understanding the Language of DNA
By: Adam Hockenberry
Oct 22, 2012
Article
Nanotechnology and the Science of Beauty
By: Christine Falaschetti
Sep 19, 2012
Post
The Microbiome: Understanding the Bacterial World Within Us
By: Cindy Danielson
Jul 6, 2012
Article
Bioengineered Organs May Hold the Future for Transplants
By: Erin M. Massey
Apr 27, 2012
Post
Mice, Marrow, Mast cells... and Me
By: Medill Reports
Feb 17, 2012
Article
Twins Research Suggests Connection Between Low Birth Weight and Autism
By: Alexandra Pisano
Feb 10, 2012
Article
NanoFlares – Research Goal to Light New Way for Cancer Detection
By: Kristen Kellar
Jan 31, 2012
Post
Japanese battery turns paper into power
By: Kristin Landry
Jan 9, 2012
Article
A Life on Exhibit
By: Bethany Leggett
Nov 2, 2011
Article
Shedding Light on Vitamin D Deficiencies
By: Jen Lazuta
Oct 18, 2011
Post
Who Should Be Offended: Bacteria or Benedict Arnold?
By: Andrew Scarpelli
Oct 14, 2011
Post
Synthetic Blogging
By: Andrew Scarpelli
Oct 7, 2011
Post
Virus Against Virus: Persuading an Infected Cell to Kill Itself
By: Cindy Danielson
Oct 6, 2011
Post
Skeptics Turn Silly – Sounds Great to Me
By: Annie Bruns
Oct 5, 2011
Post
Fluorescent Kittens: Cute, Cuddly, and Fighting AIDS
By: Cindy Danielson
Sep 21, 2011
Post
Mussels from Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents Use Hydrogen as a Fuel Source
By: Kristin Landry
Aug 29, 2011
Article
AIMing to Modernize Race in Biomedical Research
By: Emma Flores
Jul 20, 2011
Post
TRIM5: Nature’s Defense Against HIV Infection
By: Cindy Danielson
Jul 12, 2011
Post
Search and Destroy: Molecular Scissors to Fight HIV
By: Cindy Danielson
Jun 28, 2011
Article
Engineering Life
By: Beth Herbert
May 5, 2011
Article
Beating Alzheimer’s "Brick by Brick"
By: Priscilla Kunamalla
Apr 21, 2011
Article
Genetically Modified Food for Thought
By: Eliza Vakana
Mar 22, 2011
Article
Taming Inflammatory Bowel Disease
By: Angela Shawn-Chi Lu
Feb 14, 2011
Post
Scientists Are Harnessing the Brainpower of the Masses… with Video Games?
By: Annie Bruns
Jan 19, 2011
Post
And the Truth Shall Set You Free: The Debate Over Arsenic-Based Life
By: Annie Bruns
Dec 30, 2010
Post
Cell Biology, Animation... and Reality?
By: Annie Bruns
Nov 29, 2010
Article
Redefining Identity
By: Beth Herbert
Nov 24, 2010
Post
You CAN Teach an Old Cell New Tricks
By: Rebecca Martin
Nov 24, 2010
Post
Pancreatic Cancer: Wildfire? Or Slow Burn?
By: Rebecca Martin
Nov 16, 2010
Article
Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injuries Reaches Clinical Trials
By: Ben Richmond
Oct 21, 2010
Article
The Genetics of Breast Cancer Risk
By: Beth Herbert
Oct 21, 2010
Post
Coupled Colts
By: Alison Bruzek
Jun 16, 2010
Article
Nature vs. Nurture Debate: The Answer is … Both
By: Jennifer Cline
May 7, 2010
Article
Study: Daily exercise can derail “fat” DNA in teens
By: Fahiemah Al-Ali
Apr 16, 2010
Article
Ruling could make gene patents a thing of the past
By: Connie Karambelas
Apr 16, 2010
Article
Why Fruit Fly Research is No Joke
By: Beth Herbert
Apr 1, 2010
Article
Stem Cell Research One Year Later: Changes and Challenges
By: Jennifer Cline
Mar 9, 2010
Post
Health Opportunities from a Tragedy
By: Medill Reports
Jan 27, 2010
Article
From Reading to Writing Life Code
By: Beth Herbert
Oct 23, 2009
Article
Conservation, Restoration, and a Little Relaxation
By: Beth Herbert + 2 others.
Sep 4, 2009
Article
Modern Eugenics: Building a Better Person?
By: Laura Hix
Jul 23, 2009
Post
From Stem Cells to Sperm
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Jul 8, 2009
Article
Personal Genome Project Opens Doors To Individualized Health Care And More
By: Elizabeth Diffin + 1 other.
Jun 1, 2009
Article
Children's Memorial Study Seeks To Uncover Causes Of Food Allergies
By: Kate Goshorn
Apr 24, 2009
Post
Welcome
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Feb 17, 2009
Post
F.D.A. Approves Drug From Gene-Altered Goats
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Feb 16, 2009
Post
My Genome, My Self
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Jan 26, 2009
Article
Designing Life: A Look At Synthetic Biology
By: Alexander Reed
Jan 21, 2009
Post
Vatican Ethics Guide Stirs Controversy
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Dec 21, 2008
Post
FDA Verdict Could Determine Future Of Personalized Medicine
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Dec 19, 2008
Post
CNN Drops Science-Tech Unit and Veteran Reporter
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Dec 5, 2008
Post
Scientists Decode Set of Cancer Genes
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Nov 12, 2008
Post
Taking a Peek at the Experts’ Genetic Secrets
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Oct 23, 2008
Article
Fertility Patients Approve Donating Embryos To Stem Cell Research, UIC Study Says
By: Alicia Barney
Oct 19, 2008
Post
Documenting a Devastating Genetic Illness
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Oct 10, 2008
Post
The 'Secret Jews' of San Luis Valley
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Oct 8, 2008
Post
When in Doubt, Spit It Out
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Sep 19, 2008
Article
Exploring a New Frontier: Stem Cell Research at Northwestern
By: Joan Naper
Jul 16, 2008
Article
The Science Of Stem Cells
By: Kathryn Grim
Jun 27, 2008
Article
Two Programs Partner To Teach Future Scientists About Genetics
By: Eleanor Perry-Smith
Jun 13, 2008
Article
Trees Of Life Rooted In The Field's DNA Lab
By: Christopher B. Sweeney + 1 other.
Jun 12, 2008
Post
U.S. Experts Bemoan Nation's Loss of Stature in the World of Science
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Jun 6, 2008
Article
Study: Gene Variation May Predict Breast Cancer, Aid In Future Genetic Testing
By: Shannon Donohoe
Jun 4, 2008
Article
Genetic-Testing Business Is Booming, And May Do Even Better
By: Shannon Donohoe
May 27, 2008
Post
Bush Signs Anti-Discrimination Bill
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
May 23, 2008
Article
Medical Research Facing Federal Funding Crisis
By: Thomas L. Day
May 13, 2008
Post
Some Athletes’ Genes Help Outwit Doping Test
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
May 6, 2008
Article
What Is Personalized Medicine?
By: Rex L. Chisholm
May 2, 2008
Article
The Road To Genetic Testing: Curves Ahead?
By: Cathy Wicklund
May 2, 2008
Post
Senate Passes Genetic Nondiscrimination Bill
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 25, 2008
Post
Study Ties Genetic Variations to Schizophrenia
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 2, 2008
Post
Insurance Fears Lead Many to Shun DNA Tests
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Feb 26, 2008
Post
The Race to Read Genomes on a Shoestring, Relatively Speaking
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Feb 13, 2008
Post
How Our Genomes Control Diversity
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Feb 6, 2008
Article
The Promise of Oncofertility
By: Teresa Woodruff + 1 other.
Jan 28, 2008
Post
U.S. Dominance in Science at Risk, Report Says
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Jan 15, 2008
Post
FDA: "Cloned Food OK"
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Jan 15, 2008
Post
Embryonic stem cells made without embryos
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Nov 20, 2007
Post
Gene plays key role in embryonic, adult stem cells
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 19, 2007
Post
Canada mom freezes eggs so daughter can have child
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 19, 2007
Post
Stem Cell Transplant Resets Immune System in Type 1 Diabetes Patients
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 11, 2007
Post
More Govs Boost Stem Cell Research
By: Michael Kennedy, PhD
Apr 5, 2007

Helix Magazine

is a publication by Science in Society, a Northwestern University research center for science outreach and public engagement.

Follow Us

SiS Initiatives

Science Club

Science Club is an afterschool, mentor-based science program for middle school youth. This program brings graduate student mentors together with small groups of students to conduct fun and engaging scientific investigations. 

The mentorship-based, science education model includes:

  • A focus...
MORE INITIATIVES