New method boosts the study of regulation of gene activity

One way cells can control the activities of their genes is by adding small chemical modifications to the DNA that determine which genes are turned on or off. Methyl groups are one of these chemical modifications or tags. ...

The key to a powerful antibiotic's formation is now clear

A powerful class of antibiotics called carbapenems can circumvent antibiotic resistance thanks to a particular chain of atoms in their structure. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State and Johns Hopkins University have ...

Uncovering the mysteries of methylation in plants

Growing up is a complex process for multi-celled organisms—plants included. In the days or weeks it takes to go from a seed to a sprout to a full plant, plants express hundreds of genes in different places at different ...

A histone modification essential for tissue integrity

Chemical modifications of histones, the small proteins around which DNA is wrapped, are known to affect gene expression. In a study conducted in C. elegans, researchers from the Gasser group show that the defining modification ...

How to turn specific genes on and off

All the cells in an individual's body bear the same genetic code. It is the reading and writing of this code—the "turning on" and "turning off" of specific genes in specific cells—that gives the cells their identities. ...

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