A study uncovers the 'grammar' behind human gene regulation

A research group at the University of Helsinki has discovered the logic that controls gene regulation in human cells. In the future, this new knowledge could be used for investigating cancers and other genetic diseases.

Enlarging windows into understanding gene functions

In a text file, the rows of letters A, T, C and G appearing over and over in a dizzying array of combinations, are unremarkable, save perhaps for the absence of all the other letters of the alphabet. Yet the specific sequence ...

We're all mammals – so why do we look so different?

It is easy to distinguish a mouse from a cow. But for members of the same class of mammal, where do such differences begin? In 2011, scientists discovered there were differences in cow and mice blastocysts, the tiny hollow ...

Evolution's toolkit seen in developing hands and arms

Thousands of sequences that control genes are active in the developing human limb and may have driven the evolution of the human hand and foot, a comparative genomics study led by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found

Genetic switches play big role in human evolution

(Phys.org) —A Cornell study offers further proof that the divergence of humans from chimpanzees some 4 million to 6 million years ago was profoundly influenced by mutations to DNA sequences that play roles in turning genes ...

The swing of architect genes

Architect genes are responsible for organizing structures of the body during embryonic development. Some of them, namely the Hox genes, are involved in the formation of forelimbs. They are activated in two successive waves, ...

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