New DNA origami technique promises advances in medicine
A new technique in building DNA structures at a microscopic level has the potential to advance drug delivery and disease diagnosis, a study suggests.
A new technique in building DNA structures at a microscopic level has the potential to advance drug delivery and disease diagnosis, a study suggests.
Bio & Medicine
May 9, 2024
0
42
Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered a DNA repair mechanism that advances understanding of how human cells stay healthy, and which could lead to new treatments for cancer and premature aging.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 17, 2024
0
145
When nucleic acids like DNA or RNA build up in a cell's cytoplasm, it sets off an alarm call for the immune system. Enzymes usually clear these nucleic acids before they cause an issue, but when these enzymes don't work and ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 2, 2024
0
75
A pair of chemists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, has observed communication between rotors in a molecular motor. In their study, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Carlijn van Beek ...
From the fuzzy feeling on your teeth to the unfortunate condition of halitosis, bacteria shape mouth health. When dental illnesses take hold, diagnosis and treatment are necessary, but identifying the microorganisms behind ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 26, 2024
0
7
Researchers at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) have developed an innovative method to simultaneously track rapid dynamic processes of multiple molecules at the molecular scale.
Bio & Medicine
Feb 14, 2024
0
15
Scientists have been making nanoparticles out of DNA strands for two decades, manipulating the bonds that maintain DNA's double-helical shape to sculpt self-assembling structures that could someday have jaw-dropping medical ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 6, 2024
0
48
In a paper published in Science Jan. 18, scientists Chad Mirkin and Sharon Glotzer and their teams at Northwestern University and University of Michigan, respectively, present findings in nanotechnology that could impact ...
Bio & Medicine
Jan 18, 2024
0
29
Protein-splitting enzymes play an important role in many physiological processes. Such proteases are generally present in an inactive state, only becoming activated under certain conditions. Some are linked to diseases like ...
Bio & Medicine
Dec 12, 2023
0
9
Optothermal nanotweezers are an innovative optical design method that has revolutionized classical optical techniques to capture a broad range of nanoparticles. While the optothermal temperature field can be employed for ...
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.
Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.
Within cells, DNA is organized into X-shaped structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in the mitochondria (animals and plants) and chloroplasts (plants only). Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) however, store their DNA in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA