Researchers have found that coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 contain genes that appear important for viral survival even though they don’t produce a working protein. Their work investigating how these mystery genes evolve could help forecast which variants might be more dangerous.

Researchers explain how individual cells are capable of rudimentary forms of learning previously thought exclusive to organisms with brains. By using mathematical simulations, they demonstrate that cells can adjust their responses to repeated stimuli through simple molecular circuits which could be a type of cellular ‘memory’, effectively helping cells "remember" and "learn" from experience. The findings could represent an important shift in how we view the fundamental units of life. If single cells can “remember," it could also help explain how cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy or how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.