UNC School of Medicine researchers discovered that the major developmental function of heterochromatin – a form of tight DNA packaging found in chromosomes – is likely to suppress activity of virus-like DNA elements known ...
Biotechnology
Sep 1, 2016
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The CRISPR-Cas9 system has come to be known as the quintessential tool that allows researchers to edit the DNA sequences of many organisms and cell types. However, scientists are also increasingly recognizing that it can ...
Biotechnology
May 23, 2016
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56
Venus flytraps have fascinated biologists for centuries, however, the molecular underpinnings of their carnivorous lifestyle remain largely unknown. In a study published online today in Genome Research, researchers characterized ...
Plants & Animals
May 4, 2016
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New research by UCSF scientists could accelerate – by 10 to 100-fold – the pace of many efforts to profile gene activity, ranging from basic research into how to build new tissues from stem cells to clinical efforts to ...
Biotechnology
Apr 28, 2016
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Bacteria possess the ability to take up DNA from their environment, a skill that enables them to acquire new genes for antibiotic resistance or to escape the immune response. Scientists have now mapped the core set of genes ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 20, 2016
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15
Midlife crisis in the insect world: In a new study, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich researchers have detected age-dependent alterations in metabolism and gene regulation in middle-aged fruitflies, and show ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 29, 2016
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15
Christmas seems an appropriate time to ask whether it's biologically possible to have a virgin birth. And you may be surprised to hear that it is possible – just not for humans, or any other mammals.
Plants & Animals
Dec 18, 2015
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19
Genetically identical cells do not always behave the same way. According to the accepted theory, the reason are random molecular processes - known as random noise. For decades this view has been underpinned by numerous experiments ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 17, 2015
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6
There are about 20,000 genes in the human genome, but not all are used in all cells at all times. At any given moment, a cell is converting only roughly half its genes into proteins. And of those active genes, about 75 percent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 10, 2015
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12
Scientists at the University of York have taken an important step in the search to find new antibiotics that are effective against resistant bacteria.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 15, 2015
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