What's a knot—and what's not—in genomic mapping

While DNA sequencing provides precise, nucleotide-by-nucleotide genomic information, genome mapping provides a bigger-picture perspective of sequenced DNA that can provide valuable structural information. Like mapping roads ...

Researchers discover unique DNA editing function

A species of unicellular ciliate has found a special trick to make use of the cellular machinery in seemingly impossible ways. Researchers at the University of Bern have for the first time described a mechanism in detail ...

Genetic key to salt-tolerance discovered in tilapia fish

Most fish live either in fresh water or salt water, but others, including tilapia, have the remarkable ability to physiologically adjust to varying salinity levels—a trait that may be critically important as climate change ...

DNA structure influences the function of transcription factors

Substances known as transcription factors often determine how a cell develops as well as which proteins it produces and in what quantities. Transcription factors bind to a section of DNA and control how strongly a gene in ...

The protein that assesses distances

A protein of the ISWI family (Imitation Switch, or nucleosome remodelling motors) is endowed with a special property: despite having no organ of sense it is nonetheless able to assess the length of DNA strands. A study just ...

Clamshell-shaped protein puts the 'jump' in 'jumping genes'

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have deciphered the structure and unusual shape of a bacterial protein that prepares segments of DNA for the insertion of so-called jumping genes. The clamshell shape, they say, has ...

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