How does a cell maintain its identity during replication?

Prior to cell division, chromosomes are seemingly a jumbled mess. During cell division, parent cell chromosomes and their duplicates sort themselves out by condensing, becoming thousands of times more compact than at any ...

How head-on collisions of DNA protein machines stop replication

A new study describes how head-on collisions between protein machines on chromosomes can disrupt DNA replication and boost the rate of gene mutations that help bacteria survive hostile environments, resist antibiotics, and ...

High fidelity: Researcher finds keys to genome integrity

Maintaining the stability and the correct sequence of our genetic information is vital to the accurate transmission of our genetic code. However, in the course of replicating, our DNA frequently runs into roadblocks, arising ...

Scientists map mouse genome's 'mission control centers'

When the mouse and human genomes were catalogued more than 10 years ago, an international team of researchers set out to understand and compare the "mission control centers" found throughout the large stretches of DNA flanking ...

DNA gridlock: Cells undo glitches to prevent mutations

Roughly six feet of DNA are packed into every human cell, so it is not surprising that our genetic material occasionally folds into odd shapes such as hairpins, crosses and clover leafs. But these structures can block the ...

Flipping the 'off' switch on cell growth

A protein known for turning on genes to help cells survive low-oxygen conditions also slows down the copying of new DNA strands, thus shutting down the growth of new cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report. Their discovery ...

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