In cellular biology, mistakes can be good

Mistakes are rarely rewarded. Intuitively, one would imagine that a shoddy typist at an office who keeps generating typos would either quickly lose their job, or at least be overlooked for promotion. The idea that this person ...

Highly efficient, low-cost method developed to reduce DNA errors

DNA only persists through replication—naturally or synthetically. While humans need the genetic material to be reproduced in order to replace old or damaged cells, the ability to replicate DNA in a laboratory setting can ...

Genetic signature boosts protein production during cell division

A research team has uncovered a genetic signature that enables cells to adapt their protein production according to their state. The researchers of the University of Basel's Biozentrum report in Genome Biology that this newly ...

Reproductive genome from the laboratory

The field of synthetic biology does not only observe and describe processes of life but also mimics them. A key characteristic of life is the ability for replication, which means the maintenance of a chemical system. Scientists ...

Histone modifications are the influencers of zygotic genome awakening

The zebrafish is an important model organism in biology. Humans and zebrafish share 70 percent of their genes, and more than 80 percent of human genes associated with disease are known to have a zebrafish counterpart. Additionally, ...

Blue light for RNA control

Messenger RNA molecules contain genetic information and thus control the synthesis of proteins in living cells. Biochemists at the University of Bayreuth and the University of Bonn have now discovered a way to regulate this ...

The ABC of ribosome recycling

Ribosomes, the essential machinery used for protein synthesis is recycled after each one round of translation. An enzyme called ABCE1 is responsible for this process and turns out to be remarkably plastic as LMU biophysicists ...

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