Not your conventional nucleic acids

Northwestern University's Chad A. Mirkin, a world-renowned leader in nanotechnology research and its application, has invented and developed a powerful material that could revolutionize biomedicine: spherical nucleic acids ...

Modifying proteins to combat disease

Transmitting from one generation to the next the genetic message encoded in DNA is a well-understood concept in biology. There is now increasing awareness that chemical modifications of DNA and associated proteins are also ...

Unravelling the function of small RNAs

Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a hitherto unrecognised role in regulation of gene expression. To broaden knowledge on the function and evolution of these molecules, a EU project investigated various classes of regulatory ...

Scientists use light to 'tag and track' genetic processes

(Phys.org) -- In a new study, UT Dallas researchers outline how they used fluorescent molecules to "tag" DNA and monitor a process called DNA looping, a natural biological mechanism involved in rearranging genetic material ...

The path from stem cell to maturity

Regulation of gene expression is essential to make sure cell maturation occurs as it should. European research is taking an integrated perspective on how selected steps in liver and blood cell differentiation can be modulated.

Molecular controller switches off genetic material

(Phys.org) -- Genetic material has many inactive sections that are of major importance for cell identity and genome stability. The HP1 protein takes on key functions in shutting down such genomic sequences. In the latest ...

New details about gene regulation explained

(Phys.org) -- When genetic information is read from the genetic blueprint DNA, RNA polymerase II translates it into RNA molecules. The C-terminal domain, abbreviated as CTD, is an important area of the polymerase molecule. ...

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