Jumping genes are double-edged sword: By copying and integrating themselves into other parts of the genome these so-called transposons can lead to a variety of genetic disorders such as haemophilia or breast cancer. On the ...
Biotechnology
Mar 30, 2017
0
15
Picture bacteria and viruses locked in an arms race. For many bacteria, one line of defense against viral infection is a sophisticated RNA-guided "immune system" called CRISPR-Cas. At the center of this system is a surveillance ...
Biotechnology
Mar 28, 2017
0
44
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new tool to identify interactions between RNA and DNA molecules. The tool, called MARGI (Mapping RNA Genome Interactions), is the first technology that's ...
Biotechnology
Feb 24, 2017
0
1045
Far from just reading the information contained in the human genome, and in order to fully understand how it works, researchers aim to know the ins and outs of all the elements in this tiny regulated gear. Many laboratories, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 24, 2017
0
6
While the number of coding genes that produce proteins in humans has dwindled to 20,000 in recent years, scientists think that the dimensions of the proteome could be larger. This diversity of proteins has become one of the ...
Biochemistry
Oct 4, 2016
0
0
An important model in studying human disease, the non-coding RNA of the canine genome is an essential starting point for evolutionary and biomedical studies—according to a new study led by The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC).
Biotechnology
Apr 27, 2016
0
14
CRISPRainbow, a new technology using CRISPR/Cas9 developed by scientists at UMass Medical School, allows researchers to tag and track up to seven different genomic locations in live cells. This labeling system, details of ...
Biotechnology
Apr 20, 2016
1
445
In the ongoing arms race between pathogenic viruses and the cells they infect, each side needs every advantage it can get. One way wily viruses can get a leg up is by subverting the microRNAs (miRNAs) of their host. These ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 11, 2016
0
41
Every region of DNA codes for a gene. Well, not quite. Although an organism's genome contains some regions that are read and transcribed into RNA, many of those do not give rise to functional genes. Scientists at the Max ...
Biotechnology
Mar 8, 2016
0
18
Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that HIV infection of human immune cells triggers a massive increase in methylation, a chemical modification, to both human and viral RNA, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 22, 2016
0
26
