Humans have a lot in common with the humble sea sponge, according to research that changes the way we think about animal evolution.
Evolution
Apr 11, 2017
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8
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute has developed a procedure to decode histone modifications that point out gene regulation. In their paper ...
DNA represents a dynamic form of information, balancing efficient storage and access requirements. Packaging approximately 1.8m of DNA into something as small as a cell nucleus is no mean feat, but unpacking it again to access ...
Biotechnology
Nov 6, 2015
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35
Plants are stakeholders in a subtle and complex chemical warfare to secure optimal growth conditions. Although it has been known for decades that plants produce and release chemical substances to fight their neighbors, it ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 6, 2015
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90
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have located a previously unknown function in the so-called histones, which allows for an improved understanding of how cells protect and repair DNA damages. This knowledge may ...
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 23, 2015
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101
Working with yeast and worms, researchers found that incorrect gene expression is a hallmark of aged cells and that reducing such "noise" extends lifespan in these organisms. The team published their findings this month in ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 30, 2015
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One of the most widely used tools in epigenetics research - the study of how DNA packaging affects gene expression - is chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), a technique that allows researchers to examine interactions between ...
Biotechnology
Jun 4, 2015
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51
A family of proteins known as histones provides support and structure to DNA, but for years, scientists have been puzzling over occasional outliers among these histones, which appear to exist for specific, but often mysterious ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 4, 2015
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67
A fully extended strand of human DNA measures about five feet in length. Yet it occupies a space just one-tenth of a cell by wrapping itself around histones—spool-like proteins—to form a dense hub of information called ...
Biochemistry
Apr 22, 2015
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37
Research on a modified protein around which DNA is wrapped sheds light on how gene regulation is linked to aging and longevity in nematodes, fruit flies and possibly humans.
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 17, 2015
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47
