How a protein stops cells from attacking their own DNA

Viruses multiply by injecting their DNA into a host cell. Once it enters the intracellular fluid, this foreign material triggers a defense mechanism known as the cGAS-STING pathway. The protein cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase (cGAS), ...

DNA sheds light on why largest lemurs disappeared

Ancient DNA extracted from the bones and teeth of giant lemurs that lived thousands of years ago in Madagascar may help explain why the giant lemurs went extinct. It also explains what factors make some surviving species ...

Newly discovered protein prevents DNA triplication

Every time a cell divides, its DNA is duplicated so that the two daughter cells have the same genetic material as their parent. This means that, millions of times a day, a biochemical wonder takes place in the body: the copying ...

Rapamycin changes the way our DNA is stored

Our genetic material is stored in our cells in a specific way to make the meter-long DNA molecule fit into the tiny cell nucleus of each body cell. An international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biology ...

Marseillevirus, new giant virus discovered

Scientists in France have isolated a new giant virus that lurks inside amoeba and whose gene pool includes genetic material from other species.

On the hunt for wild bananas in Papua New Guinea

The banana has its earliest origins in Papua New Guinea, where it was domesticated by indigenous communities at least 7,000 years ago. This ancestor, Musa acuminata, subspecies Banksii, looks very different from the ubiquitous ...

How bacteria adhere to fiber in the gut

Researchers have revealed a new molecular mechanism by which bacteria adhere to cellulose fibers in the human gut. Thanks to two different binding modes, they can withstand the shear forces in the body. Scientists of the ...

Sniffing out cancer with improved 'electronic nose' sensors

Scientists have been exploring new ways to "smell" signs of cancer by analyzing what's in patients' breath. In ACS' journal Nano Letters, one team now reports new progress toward this goal. The researchers have developed ...

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