Related topics: genome · genes · protein · genetic variation · dna

Expanding the genetic code with quadruplet codons

One of modern biologists' most ambitious goals is to learn how to expand or otherwise modify the genetic code of life on Earth, in order to make new, artificial life forms. Part of the motivation for this "synthetic biology" ...

Herbicide resistance no longer a black box for scientists

When agricultural weeds evolve resistance to herbicides, they do it in one of two ways. In target-site resistance, a tiny mutation in the plant's genetic code means the chemical no longer fits in the protein it's designed ...

Calling through the 'DNA wire'

Proteins can communicate through DNA, conducting a long-distance dialog that serves as a kind of genetic "switch," according to Weizmann Institute of Science researchers. They found that the binding of proteins to one site ...

Lipid polymer enables safe delivery of RNA drugs to the lungs

Hokkaido University researchers in Japan created and tested a library of lipid-based compounds to find a way to safely and effectively deliver RNA drugs to the lungs. Their analyses, published in the journal Materials Horizons, ...

Drought changes rice root microbiome

Drought can have a lasting impact on the community of microbes that live in and around roots of rice plants, a team led by UC Davis researchers has found. Root-associated microbes help plants take up nutrients from the soil, ...

Innovation massively expands view into workings of single cells

Researchers have devised a way to multiply by more than ten-fold the accessible details of gene activity in individual cells. It's a big leap in the effort to understand cancer development, brain function, immunity and other ...

How fish got their spines

In the movie "A Fish Called Wanda," the villain Otto effortlessly gobbles up all the occupants of Ken`s fish tank. Reality, however, is more daunting. At least one unfortunate fan who re-enacted this scene was hospitalized ...

How cells 'read' artificial ingredients tossed into genetic recipe

If the genome is the recipe of life, base pairs are the individual ingredients listed. These chemical structures form DNA, and every living organism on Earth has just four. The specific arrangements of these four base pairs—A, ...

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