Are scientists being fooled by bacteria?

For decades, a small group of cutting-edge medical researchers have been studying a biochemical, DNA tagging system, which switches genes on or off. Many have studied it in bacteria and now some have seen signs of it in, ...

The key to a powerful antibiotic's formation is now clear

A powerful class of antibiotics called carbapenems can circumvent antibiotic resistance thanks to a particular chain of atoms in their structure. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State and Johns Hopkins University have ...

Copper-based chemicals may be contributing to ozone depletion

Copper released into the environment from fungicides, brake pads, antifouling paints on boats and other sources may be contributing significantly to stratospheric ozone depletion, according to a new study from the University ...

Uncovering the mysteries of methylation in plants

Growing up is a complex process for multi-celled organisms—plants included. In the days or weeks it takes to go from a seed to a sprout to a full plant, plants express hundreds of genes in different places at different ...

Gene repression can be sex-specific

Researchers have shown for the first time that embryonic cells destined to become either egg or sperm rely on different methods of repressive gene regulation.

A histone modification essential for tissue integrity

Chemical modifications of histones, the small proteins around which DNA is wrapped, are known to affect gene expression. In a study conducted in C. elegans, researchers from the Gasser group show that the defining modification ...

How to turn specific genes on and off

All the cells in an individual's body bear the same genetic code. It is the reading and writing of this code—the "turning on" and "turning off" of specific genes in specific cells—that gives the cells their identities. ...

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