Junk DNA in birds may hold key to safe, efficient gene therapy

The recent approval of a CRISPR-Cas9 therapy for sickle cell disease demonstrates that gene editing tools can do a superb job of knocking out genes to cure hereditary disease. But it's still not possible to insert whole genes ...

Scientists discover dual-function messenger RNA

For the very first time, a study led by Julian Chen and his group in Arizona State University's School of Molecular Sciences and the Biodesign Institute's Center for the Mechanism of Evolution, has discovered an unprecedented ...

Study finds clues to aging in 'junk' DNA

For decades, greater than 60% of the human genome was believed to be "junk DNA" that served little or no purpose in the course of human development. Recent research by Colorado State University is challenging this notion ...

Decoding RNA-protein interactions

Thanks to continued advances in genetic sequencing, scientists have identified virtually every A, T, C, and G nucleotide in our genetic code. But to fully understand how the human genome encodes us, we need to go one step ...

Origins of genomic 'dark matter' discovered

A duo of scientists at Penn State University has achieved a major milestone in understanding how genomic "dark matter" originates. This "dark matter"—called non-coding RNA—does not contain the blueprint for making proteins ...

Research sheds light on M.O. of unusual RNA molecules

(Phys.org) —The genes that code for proteins—more than 20,000 in total—make up only about 1 percent of the complete human genome. That entire thing—not just the genes, but also genetic junk and all the rest—is coiled ...

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