Axios

For more than 15 years, scientists have worked to build a complex cell with an entire genome built from scratch. This week they announced a major milestone: They've created synthetic versions of the 16 chromosomes in a yeast cell and successfully combined some of them in one cell.

Why it matters: The feat is revealing new information about fundamental processes in cells, and it is a key step toward some scientists' vision of creating programmable cellular factories to produce biofuels, materials, medicines and other products.

The past 12 months ending in October was the hottest 12-month period that the planet has seen in at least 125,000 years, a new report finds.

Why it matters: There is ample evidence that climate change significantly shifted the odds of temperature extremes during this period.

The big picture: A Climate Central analysis shows not only how warming is loading the dice for more frequent and severe heat extremes, but also the disproportionate impacts worldwide.

A biotech startup aiming to bring back the woolly mammoth is partnering with an elephant conservation organization to use drones and AI to track African elephants and study their behavior.

The big picture: High-tech tools are increasingly being deployed to digitize forests, track elephants, reduce conflict between people and lions, and record migrating birds.