DNA sequences that can fold into shapes other than the classic double helix tend to have higher mutation rates than other regions in the human genome. New research by a team of Penn State scientists shows that the elevated ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 8, 2021
0
79
A new algorithm may reduce the need for expensive, time-consuming whole-genome sequencing computations to understand how a microbiome functions. A team led by Jing Gongchao of the Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 22, 2021
0
6
Many human traits, such as height and disease susceptibility, depend on genes that are encoded in our DNA. These genes are switched on and off and further fine-tuned by important but hard-to-find regions in the genome.
Evolution
Nov 16, 2020
0
6
Many humans live to see their 70s and 80s, some even reach 100 years old. But life is much shorter for our closest animal relatives. Chimpanzees, for example, rarely make it past age 50, despite sharing almost 99% of our ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2020
0
178
The human genome contains about 20,000 protein-coding genes, but the coding parts of our genes account for only about 2 percent of the entire genome. For the past two decades, scientists have been trying to find out what ...
Biotechnology
Jul 29, 2020
0
268
An international team of scientists has collated all known bacterial genomes from the human gut microbiome into a single large database, allowing researchers to explore the links between bacterial genes and proteins, and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 21, 2020
1
689
One could say that mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles inside every human cell, dance to their own beat. After all, they have their own genome—a set of DNA-containing chromosomes—completely separate from the ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2020
0
67
How did the monstrous giant squid—reaching school-bus size, with eyes as big as dinner plates and tentacles that can snatch prey 10 yards away—get so scarily big?
Biotechnology
Jan 16, 2020
0
2197
The human genome contains 4.5 million copies of transposable elements (TEs), so-called selfish DNA sequences capable of moving around the genome through cut-and-paste or copy-and-paste mechanisms. Accounting for 30-50 percent ...
Evolution
Nov 21, 2019
0
13
A virus that infects koalas is steadily integrating itself into their DNA, ensuring that it is passed down from generation to generation. But the koala genome is defending itself, revealing that DNA has its own immune system ...
Biotechnology
Oct 11, 2019
0
14
