In almost every human cell, 2 meters of DNA has to fit within a nucleus that is just 8 millionths of a meter wide. Like wool around a spool, the extreme space challenge requires DNA to wrap around structural proteins called ...
Evolution
Jun 9, 2022
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47
Chromatin is a unique DNA and protein complex that makes up the chromosomes. Specific proteins (histones) wind up the DNA like small cable drums to package the long DNA. A cable drum (consisting of four pairs of histones) ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 23, 2024
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58
The field of epigenetics focuses on alterations in gene function that are inherited without changes in the DNA sequence, including histone modifications, post-translational modifications of amino acids, and covalent modifications ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 6, 2023
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2
A study lead by SciLifeLab Fellow Simon Elsässer elucidates the mechanism of a peculiar type of heterochromatin, used by embryonic stem cells to silence 'parasitic' DNA-elements within the context of their highly dynamic ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 9, 2020
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8
Some bacteria, it turns out, have proteins much like ours that organize the DNA in their cells. They just do it a bit differently. This is revealed by new research from biochemists at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 13, 2024
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26
When organisms pass their genes on to future generations, they include more than the code spelled out in DNA. Some also pass along chemical markers that instruct cells how to use that code. The passage of these markers to ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 28, 2023
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13
Within all our cells lies two meters of DNA, highly ordered in a structure of less than 10 micro meters in diameter. Special proteins called histones act as small building bricks, organising our DNA in this structure. Preservation ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 12, 2012
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0
A research team led by Dr. Xiang David Li from the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with scientists from Tsinghua University in China, the Rockefeller University, and the University ...
Biochemistry
Nov 7, 2018
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68
How can human cells pack 3-meter-long DNA into their tiny nuclei and unpack it only where and when it is needed? This fascinating process is far from being completely understood.
Biotechnology
Feb 5, 2020
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8
"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," as the old saying goes. But for organisms that can't leave the proverbial kitchen when things get too hot, there's another way: researchers from Japan have discovered ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 10, 2021
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