What do astronauts, microbes, and plants all have in common? Each relies on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - essentially a computer code for living things - to grow and thrive.
Space Exploration
May 1, 2018
0
16
If you had to copy billions of letters from one sheet of paper to another, you'd probably make a few mistakes. So it might not come as a surprise that when DNA makes a copy of its three-billion-base genetic code, it can slip ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 31, 2018
0
506
Being able to identify microbes in real time aboard the International Space Station, without having to send them back to Earth for identification first, would be revolutionary for the world of microbiology and space exploration. ...
Space Exploration
Dec 28, 2017
9
1419
DNA evolved to store genetic information, but in principle this special, chain-like molecule can also be adapted to make new materials. Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have now published an important demonstration ...
Materials Science
Oct 11, 2017
0
385
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen have developed a technique for directly observing how enzymes and other biomolecules go about their work, with potentially significant medical ...
Biochemistry
Aug 28, 2017
0
20
High-resolution crystal structure reveals a new pathway for RNA during a nontraditional form of transcription—the process by which RNA is produced from a DNA template. Caught during the act of reiterative transcription, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 22, 2017
0
6
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 ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 15, 2017
0
8
Determining which fish are living in various bodies of water can be a daunting task for scientists studying those populations. Identifying invasive or endangered species, for example, has often relied on the ability to catch ...
Ecology
Jul 20, 2017
0
2
Traces of biomolecules such as DNA can be detected with a new "dynamic" technique based on the observation of association and dissociation events of gold nanoparticles. If the desired DNA sequence is present, it can reversibly ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 18, 2017
0
13
Rather than conduct an aquatic roll call with nets to know which fish reside in a particular body of water, scientists can now use DNA fragments suspended in water to catalog invasive or native species.
Ecology
Jul 17, 2017
0
3
