Cells will ramp up gene expression in response to physical forces alone, a new study finds. Gene activation, the first step of protein production, starts less than one millisecond after a cell is stretched—hundreds of times ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 1, 2020
0
1462
(Phys.org) —The ability of a cell to move, replicate, and recast itself according to the needs of the organism which it serves, comes at it price. The extreme flexibility of cells takes its origin from the constant turnover ...
Characteristics passed between generations are not decided solely by DNA, but can be brought about by other material in cells, new research shows.
Biotechnology
Apr 2, 2015
14
2866
Our genetic material is stored in our cells in a specific way to make the meter-long DNA molecule fit into the tiny cell nucleus of each body cell. An international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology ...
Biotechnology
Jun 9, 2021
0
625
We all know viruses cause colds and flu this time of year, but you might be surprised to learn that a virus may have played a key role in the evolution of nearly all life forms on Earth.
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 7, 2018
0
387
In a recent paper in RNA Biology, researchers show that mitochondria translocate their key RNA methyltransferase enzyme, TRMT1, into host cell nuclei in response to neural activity. This subcellular relocalization of key ...
New research provides insight into how an enzyme that helps regulate aging and other metabolic processes accesses our genetic material to modulate gene expression within the cell. A team led by Penn State researchers have ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 14, 2023
0
97
Basic biology textbooks may need a bit of revising now that biologists at UC San Diego have discovered a never-before-noticed component of our basic genetic material.
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 18, 2011
2
0
Parents pass genes along to their offspring traits that equip them for life. In recent years, research has shown that the reality is much more complex and that parents endow much more than just genes. A new study in Cell ...
Evolution
Jun 4, 2020
0
1055
The discovery of the Medusavirus holds clues to the evolution of more complex life. A paper published in the Journal of Virology earlier this year has been creating waves because of the ability of the Medusavirus to turn ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 1, 2019
1
224
In biology, histones are highly alkaline proteins found in eukaryotic cell nuclei that package and order the DNA into structural units called nucleosomes. They are the chief protein components of chromatin, acting as spools around which DNA winds, and play a role in gene regulation. Without histones, the unwound DNA in chromosomes would be very long (a length to width ratio of more than 10 million to one in human DNA). For example, each human cell has about 1.8 meters of DNA, but wound on the histones it has about 90 micrometers (0.09 mm) of chromatin, which, when duplicated and condensed during mitosis, result in about 120 micrometers of chromosomes.
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